BSNL for early review of call termination charge

The exchequer is losing Rs 4,000-5,000 crore a year by allowing foreign telecom operators to terminate incoming international calls at nominal rates in India, BSNL has told regulator TRAI.

In response to a consultation paper on Interconnection charges by TRAI, BSNL has suggested an immediate review of termination charges to bring parity between Indian and foreign players.

"The present regulatory regime in India has resulted in drastic reduction in revenue from incoming international calls whereas there is significant increase in the outflow of revenue to other countries, as foreign telecom operators have not reduced their termination charges because of... Protective regulatory regime in their countries," BSNL said.

This has not only adversely affected the financial viability of telecom service providers in India, but deprived the country of valuable foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore per annum, it added.

BSNL also said, "This can also be used to moderate the termination charges for domestic calls for the benefit of Indian consumers."

Currently, for incoming international calls the termination charges are only 30 paise per minute, whereas Indian operators pay a weighted average charge of about Rs 3 a minute for termination of their calls abroad.

The charge is paid by the service provider from whose network the call originates to the service provider on whose network the call ends.

As per prevailing regulations, a uniform termination charge of Rs 0.30 a minute is levied on all types of calls -- local, national long-distance and international long-distance. 

In its February 2006 review, TRAI noted that due to increased volume of traffic the termination charges especially for mobile services may be lower than specified charges.

The Authority had also estimated and found that mobile termination charges as well as fixed termination charges could be lower than the current specified level of Rs 0.30 a minute.

Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) means the charge payable by one service provider to one or more service providers for usage of the network elementsfor origination, transit or termination of the calls.

BSNL has also saidwhile calculating the IUC, this important aspect needsto be taken into consideration and it has to be ensured that interests of the country at large and that of the Indian telecom sector in particular, are protected.