Tata Tele drags Rel Info to TDSAT on interconnect

Calls from Reliance Infocomm to Tata Indicomm not being completed.

Tata Teleservices has approached the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) accusing Reliance Infocomm of failing to provide interconnection in 12 circles to its mobile and fixed wireless phones.

Tata Teleservices said the failure on the part of Reliance has led to subscribers of both the companies not getting quality services, as directed by the telecom regulator.

At present, calls made by Tata Indicom subscribers to Reliance customers are being routed through BSNL's network and the company has to pay an extra 19 paise as carriage charges for each call to the PSU.

This has been possible as Tata Teleservices and BSNL have an agreement, whereas calls from Reliance phone to Tatas are not being completed, the Tata group said.

As per a directive by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, service providers will have to provide interconnections within 90 days of payments being made by the seeking company.

The dispute comes close on the heels of Reliance Infocomm accusing the Tata- owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) of 'stonewalling all efforts of the Trai to introduce effective competition in international private leased circuit (IPLC)'.

Infocomm has demanded that the regulator adopt a strong regulatory approach towards the anti-competitive approach of VSNL, and added that its key concern was that the submarine cable landing station in India continued to be a virtual monopoly of VSNL. Last week, both companies has declared that the issue was settled.

According to a Tata Teleservices spokesperson, the company's fixed wireless and mobile service operations were being affected as Reliance Infocomm and Reliance Telecom (which offers GSM mobile services) were not providing the necessary interconnection.

When contacted, Reliance Infocomm executives refused to comment.

The 12 new circles where the Tatas have accused Infocomm of failing to provide interconnectivity include Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (east and west),Bihar, Orissa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Kolkata.