Incoming traffic on cellular phones have surged by around 10 per cent since service providers have announced free incoming calls from May 1. However, the real impact would be felt in the next few days, since it was a public holiday on May 1 in some states.
Cellular service operators also reported a surge in calls from subscribers asking for tariff details. Most of the operators have not announced their revised tariffs, based on interconnect usage charges, because the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has not approved them.
Industry sources said the traffic in call centres went up around 50 per cent because subscribers were uncertain about the tariffs for outgoing calls.
Cell firms also had to deal with PCO booth owners, who prohibited customers from making calls to a cellular phone. The tariffs for fixed-to-cell has gone up by around 200 per cent, making the PCO phones, operated by Re 1 coins, redundant. PCO booth owners also said they did not have the billing system upgraded to meter calls made to a cellular phone.
Under the new regime, fixed-to-cell calls have a 60 second pulse rate, against the earlier 180 second pulse rate. Some PCO owners prohibited calls to wireless in local loop subscribers, where the pulse rate has come down to 90 seconds from 180 seconds.
On the long distance front, most tariffs are stuck with the Trai seeking clarification from operators. Reliance, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Tata Teleservices and cellular operators have been asked to justify their STD tariffs.
