Paging firms seek Rs 70 crore aid

The paging industry, threatened by a possible extinction, has filed an appeal with the telecom tribunal seeking a refund of the licence fee paid by paging operators, amounting to about Rs 70 crore.

The appeal seeks compensation from the government on the ground that the cellular industry is killing the paging segment by offering short messaging services (SMS), which is similar to the service offered by the paging operators.

The paging subscriber base in the country, currently at just over a lakh is all set to be wiped out by the end of January.

Confirming the move, Y K Modi, chairman , Indian Paging Services Association (IPSA) said, "Since cellular operators did not pay any additional fee for offering SMS, the government should allow us to offer paging services without any licence fee."

IPSA officials said the paging industry was being discriminated against, even as the government had doled out a compensation package to cellular operators on account of allowing full mobility to basic operators.

"The government could give sops worth Rs 1,000 crore to cellular operator even though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had said in October there was no need for compensation. Then why can't they give a small relief of Rs 70 crore to the paging industry," said an IPSA official.

The case is scheduled to be taken up by the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal in the first week of January.

As per the quarterly performance report issued by Trai, the paging subscriber base has dwindled 50 per cent between June and September from 238,000 to 102,000.

Three years ago there were over 700,000 paging subscribers in the country.

The last year alone has seen a 60 per cent decline in the subscriber use. According to Modi, despite new technologies, paging still has its utility.

"Even in developed countries like the US, paging is widely used. It is unfortunate that the Indian government is allowing the industry to die," Modi said.