Trai broke trust, says BSNL

BSNL said Trai had made public its's tariffs, network diagrams and designs.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd today accused the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) of breach of confidentiality and said its competitive advantage had been compromised after the regulator made public its data and network diagrams on domestic bandwidth networks and tariffs.

On May 2, the regulator had specified higher tariffs for domestic leased circuits provided through managed leased line network (MLLN) technology, against the same provided through classical leased circuits.

BSNL executives said the regulator, in its directive on MLLN, had made public BSNL's tariffs, network diagrams, its leased circuits architecture and design in addition to other commercially sensitive information, to show that a higher ceiling was necessary for MLLN leased circuits.

"We have already informed Trai of the breach of confidentiality. We will also send a written communication to the Authority," said a BSNL source.

"Even the prices we offer have been made public. This information was provided under the understanding of confidentiality," the BSNL source added.

When contacted, Trai officials said that there has been no breach of confidential information. "The diagrams and designs are standard information. If figures have been quoted, as per the norms, they are off the second most efficient operator, and not the first. The issue of compromising one's competitive advantage does not arise,' said a Trai official.

"If they write to us, we shall examine the issue further,' he added.

BSNL also said that that that Trai was aware of the consequences of its action.

"Recently, when Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd had taken the regulator to the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), over tariff reduction in international leased line circuits, Trai had refused to share the data submitted by VSNL, and other related information even with the tribunal, on the grounds that it would lead to breach of confidentiality.

The regulator maintained this stand, even after losing the case. How can the same Authority make our data public,' questioned a senior BSNL executive.

BSNL executives also added that it would approach the regulator to reconsider its ceiling tariffs for MLLN circuits.

"Though the regulator has specified a higher ceiling for MLLN leased circuits due to the additional costs associated with this technology and also for the value added features that it offers over classical leased circuits, the revised tariffs are not commercially viable,' said company executives.