Telecom Commission okays long distance calling cards

Charges for a long distance call — both domestic and international — may become cheaper as the Telecom Commission, the policy making arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), today approved the provision for calling cards by long distance operators.

Consumers will, therefore, have the choice to make long-distance calls through the mobile operators of their choice. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in its recommendations, had opened the market for private players to provide calling cards for domestic and international calling.

Carrier Access Code (CAC) is a mechanism that allows subscribers to choose a long-distance operator, irrespective of their service provider.

This will allow the consumers avail the services of various operators, which will lead to increased competition and lowering of tariffs.

Long-distance calls will be allowed both from basic and mobile phones. The move will benefit 23 domestic long distance and 18 international long distance service providers in the country.

The DoT had set up an internal committee to look into the matter. The committee has observed that calling cards issued by the various access service providers do not give consumers the choice to select various tariff plans by long distance operators. Calling cards by long distance operators offer customers the choice of making calls from any access network and yet have the calls routed through the network of their choice.

It also observed that out of three possible modes of carrier selection — call-by-call section (CS), carrier pre-selection (CPS) and calling cards — the first one offers the maximum flexibility and convenience to the consumer.

However, as the cost of introducing it is considered unjustified as compared to the monetary benefits likely to accrue to the customer, the committee has recommended that the option of introducing the call-by-call carrier selection may be considered at an appropriate time in future.

In its recommendation, Trai had reasoned that competition brought in by carrier selection was considered important for bringing in operational efficiencies in the long distance segment and also in offering choice, quality and affordable prices to the consumers.

The Telecom Commission, however, referred the issue of internet telephony back to Trai seeking more clarity on how it would function. Last year, the regulatory body had also submitted its recommendations to allow internet telephony in the domestic space. Reduction in the restrictions in internet telephony could lead to a substantial fall in the STD tariffs in the country.

While internet service providers hailed the recommendation, it was opposed by telecom operators. At present, ISPs are not permitted to make calls to fixed line and mobile subscribers since they cannot have interconnection with these networks to terminate internet telephony calls within the country on the basis of regulations.