Mobile telecom tariffs may see a further dip as the government has asked regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to review the five-year old termination charge of 30 paise a minute per call for fixed and mobile telephony.
Termination charge is the money given by an operator on whose network a call originates to the operator on whose network the call terminates.
The termination charge at 30 paise a minute per call for mobile telephony is considered high, especially by the new players. It was fixed five years ago and since then cost parameters have changed considerably.
"Termination charges reduction reference has gone to Trai. They have to recommend us what to do (whether to bring it down or not. Trai is a statutory body it can't be dictated on what to be done. It is being discussed in Trai to look into the possibility of bringing down the termination charges)," Telecom Minister A Raja said here.
Although, it is over four months since DoT referred the matter, Trai is yet to review charges for fixed and mobile services.
Five years ago Trai prescribed call termination charges for fixed and mobile services. A Trai official said the regulator has not been able to see the reason for reducing the termination charges.
Trai prescribed termination charges for fixed and mobile services through its regulations on October 29, 2003. This was done on the basis of cost data submitted by various service providers for the years preceeding it.
In June 2008, Department of Telecom (DoT) asked Trai to review the termination charges based on present and projected cost and traffic on the premise that the volume has gone up.
