The Telecom Industry Services Association of India (TISA) has offered to charge long distance tariff on private basic services at 10 per cent below the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rates, if basic operators are allowed to operate long distance telephone services by January 1, 1998.
In a statement, TISA chief P K Sandel said, while as per tender terms private basic operators were obliged to set up advanced wireless overlay network with optical links at huge costs, they were being denied the opportunity to run long distance intra-circle services. The same networks can be used to offer long distance call rates at reduced prices, thus favouring the consumer.
Sandel said that the internet monopoly of DoT and VSNL had to be dispensed with to ensure accessibility of the global information highway to all sections of the society. TISA was represented by leading basic and cellular operators including Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd, Koshika Telecom, ModiCorp, Globalstar India Ltd, ACME Telecom and Modi Telecom.
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The statement said that DOT may review the question of extending the current licensing period from 10 years to 15 years while agreeing to a moratorium of two years for payment of the annual license fees.
These two provisions have become urgent to curtail losses of the cellular industry. The paging services operators too were facing similar problems due to high overheads and low returns.
It pleaded the case of indigenous telecom equipment manufacturers, who are facing the threat of being rendered uneconomical on account of the government reducing import duties.