Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in a move to boost fixed line phone connections in the country, has removed charges that a landline service provider has to pay to the other service providers for transmitting its customers' phone calls. The move is also expected to lead to lower phone tariffs especially for fixed line users.
The Telecom regulator has also reduced network interconnection usage charges (IUC) on calls made from mobile phones by about 30 percent to 14 paise per call from 20 paise earlier. TRAI issued a new IUC rule stating that “To promote investment in, and adoption of, wireline networks, so that they may become an effective vehicle for the delivery of high-speed Internet in the country, the Authority has decided to prescribe FTC (fixed termination) as well as MTC (mobile termination charge) for wireline to wireless calls as zero.”
Landline connections in the country have been declining since the time mobile incoming calls were made free. TRAI opined that in case the MTC is set to zero for wireline to wireless calls, wireline access providers would be able to provide innovative tariff packages, similarly, in case the FTC for calls originating from wireless networks and terminating on wireline networks is set to zero, this 'would propel wireless access providers to offer cheaper tariffs for wireless-to-wireline calls.
Earlier, IUC regime was used to be revised on a regular basis with an interval of two to three years, but since the matter was pending in the Supreme Court since 2010, the IUC review could not be conducted and over five years had elapsed since the last review, TRAI started the review in 2014 and now has come up with its decision. Total landline connections at the end of 2014 in the country was just 2.7 crore, while mobile subscriber base has increased to 94.39 crore.
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