Business   

TRAI puts off new IUC regime

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 26 . The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has postponed the implementation of the inter-company settlement rates from December 1 primarily due to protests from the cellular mobile industry. The telecommunication interconnection usage charges (IUC) regulation will now be implemented from December 15, said a TRAI news release.

Though the TRAI has officially listed a number of reasons, the cellular industry gave the most potent. It said since the cellular and basic licences had been unified and the same terms and condition applied to both, there should not be any discrimination in charging IUC from the two sectors. The IUC regime has kept the TRAI in convulsions ever since the concept was first aired and various TRAI regimes have had to go back and revise the IUC announced by them.

While announcing the IUC, the TRAI invariably said a great deal of thought had gone into the exercise. But that was never the case whenever the IUC regulations were scrutinised closely.

For the record, the TRAI said implementation was being delayed because some phone service providers have sought clarification on a number of issues relating to IUC applicable for unified access services; numbering, routing, point of interconnections; carriage charges; reconciliation issues; negotiation in carriage charges beyond 50 km; calls between cellular companies where direct connectivity has not yet been implemented and implementation details from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Virgin looking at South Indian destinations
• Wendtsoft launches 2 new products
• Corum comes to Chennai
• Coffee Day enters packaged business
• Implementation key to success in e-governance
• Rupee losing grip?
• HDFC Standard premium income up
• TRAI puts off new IUC regime
• Tyco to launch wireless products
• Tata Indicom cuts ILD tariffs
• Digital Video plans unit in Bangalore

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu