Cellular Operators Rule Out Revenue Sharing With Dot

Cellular operators have ruled out a revenue-sharing arrangement with the Department of Telecommunications to resolve the contentious issue of fixed-to-cellular tariffs. Instead, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is in favour of a numbering plan-based solution.

The association has been conducting informal talks with DoT over the fixed-to-cellular tariffs, which have been dubbed killer tariffs by the cellular industry since their imposition threatens cellular operators business plans.

The operators are insisting on multiple points of interconnect with the DoT network. They are willing to set up small exchangesdubbed virtual mobile switching centres, the heart of a cellular networkin different parts of a circle to interconnect to the DoT network.

 

Multiple points of interconnect in tandem with a district-wise numbering plan would help tide over the problem of charging high tariffs for calls even made within the same city. In new fixed-to-cellular tariffs introduced by DoT on February 15, a fixed-line network subscriber will have to pay as much as Rs 28 for a three-minute call to a cellphone.

A numbering plan includes the area code, exchange code and subscriber-specific number and sets the sequence of digits in a telephone number. For instance, a typical DoT telephone number in Delhi would have seven digitsthe first three digits specifying the exchange under which the telephone operates and the remaining four digits being subscriber-specific numbers. If the number is being dialled from outside Delhi, it can be accessed only by dialling the area code (011, in this case).

Cellular industry sources claim that the hike in tariff has severely affected the average traffic per cellular subscriber and has led to a drastic fall in the number of new subscriptions. Sources said several multinational telecom majors have reportedly threatened to reconsider their telecom investment plans in the country, in the light of alarming data trickling in from the operators in various circles.

The hike has led to a 48 per cent fall in fixed-line calls to mobile subscribers in the Haryana circle, the licence for which is held by Escotel Communications.

The average traffic per customer, which was ranging from three to four minutes before the hike, is now between two to three minutes, and has been occasionally dipping to less than two minutes. The peak total traffic in Haryana prior to the hike was 6,185 minutes, which fell to a low of 4,796 minutes on March 21,1997.

Similarly, Birla AT&T has seen the number of fixed-to-mobile calls fall by a whopping 61 per cent between February 10 and 17 in Pune. There has also been a steep rise in cancelled bookings, with 23,000 prospective subscribers declining to activise their connections in Pune alone, sources said.

Uttar Pradesh (East) has reported a 44.4 per cent reduction in bookings in Lucknow and 48.5 per cent reduction in Kanpur in the post-hike period, while bookings have dropped by 55 per cent in Maharashtra and 38 per cent in Kerala. Ninety per cent of cellular calls made in India are same-city calls, argues one operator, adding that this hike would seriously impact the nascent cellular industry, which has committed over Rs 40,000 crore in licence fee and project cost to the telecom sector in the country.