CEOs of top mobile operators met TRAI chief Rahul Khullar on Wednesday to express concerns over the proposal to cut roaming tariffs. They also sought an extension of the deadline for the introduction of pan-India mobile number portability.
The CEOs — representing Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, among others — told the regulator that on the one hand the industry was coughing up big money to buy spectrum and on the other it was being told to implement regulations that would hit revenue generation.
In February, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had proposed a 35 per cent cut in national roaming tariffs and slashing SMS charges by 80 per cent. It proposed cutting down the maximum charges that can be imposed on outgoing local calls in roaming mode to 65 paise per minute from the current ceiling rate of ₹1.
In the same month, TRAI reduced inter-operator rates for mobile-to-mobile calls from 20 paise a minute to 14 paise.
Takes a beating While these moves benefit mobile users, the operators will take a hit at least in the short term. “If we collect 65 paise a minute for roaming, this will be cheaper than a local call, which is around 70-80 paise. There is no way we can sustain this tariff structure unless we reduce local call rates also, but that cannot be done due to rising input costs,” said an industry representative.
To add to their woes, TRAI has asked telcos to implement full mobile number portability by May 3. Full MNP will enable mobile users to retain their phone number while moving to a new city, even if they change their service provider. But this will require additional investments to tweak the network as a phone number is currently locked to a particular circle.
“We have requested the regulator for a rethink. A drop from ₹1 to 65 paise at one-go cannot be justified nor can the reduction in termination fee. The industry is already reeling under a debt of over ₹2.5 lakh crore, which will only increase after the spectrum auction,” said an industry source privy to discussions held in the meeting.
TRAI has asked the operators to submit their concerns in writing by March 13.