NEW DELHI, SEPT 12: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will announce new tariffs this week for cellular telephone which is expected to make the service affordable to the middle class.The authority will come out with an order this week fixing new rentals and call charges as part of the calling party pays (CPP) regime to be implemented from November 1, TRAI chairman Justice S S Sodhi said. However, he declined to give any indication about the new tariff and said, "Wait for a few more days."In its consultation paper released last month, TRAI had proposed to bring down the monthly rentals for cellular phones from Rs 600 to Rs 475 and call charges from Rs 6 to Rs 4. The CPP regime would enable cell phone users to receive incoming calls free of charge against the current system of charging on the same rate of outgoing calls.TRAI's proposal to charge callers from fixed phones to cellphones at an enhanced rate against the prevailing local call rates had attracted criticism from consumers at arecent open house conducted for deliberating the consultation paper.Asked about these criticisms, Sodhi said "our sole objective is to protect the interest of the consumers and the CPP order will prove that." TRAI had also proposed to increase the pulse from 20 seconds to 30 seconds, besides sharing 60 paise of every Rs 2.40 collected by the fixed phone provider for calls to mobile phones with the cellular operators.On Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited's (MTNL) plan to launch wireless in local loops (WLL) phones with limited mobility from this month, Justice Sodhi said TRAI had nothing against this technology being used for fixed phone service. TRAI has begun the process of consultation on using WLL technology for mobile phones and a final order on this would be out in a month's time. He said nothing prevented MTNL from launching the service as it had already furnished the clarifications demanded by the regulator, while DoT was yet to file its reply. MTNL had announced last week it would launch mobilephones using WLL technology with free incoming calls and call charges equal to normal telephone service later this month.
