The long-awaited negotiations on interconnectivity between the department of telecommunications (DoT) and cellular operators as directed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in the first week of May are set to begin.
The date of commencement of the talks has not been decided, but sources put the time-frame as within two weeks.
This marks further thawing of the relationship between DoT and TRAI which had reached a nadir with the department filing a writ petition in the Delhi High Court questioning the regulators jurisdiction.
The decision to convene talks on interconnect issues comes just a few days after TRAI ruled that DoT had complied with its order quashing the departments fixed-to-cellular call tariff.
DoT had prepared an interconnect pact for cellular operators about a year ago, which was subsequently discarded in favour of administrative order.
Commencement of the talks on interconnectivity, an issue the regulator feels strongly about, is seen as further indication that DoT-TRAI relationship is improving. Interconnection between the network of DoT and that of a cellular operator is essential for access to each others subscribers. Incumbent providers in deregulating telecom markets the world over have been notorious in adopting anti-competitive practices against new entrants.
The regulator earlier this week asked DoT and cellular operators to submit the international practices with regard to interconnectivity and drafts the agreement they would like to have, thus reviving the interconnect issue that had been dormant for some time. Not a single meeting has taken place in the three months since TRAI sent a letter to DoT asking it to conclude an interconnect agreement by May 31 in consultation with cellular operators.
However, sources say the cellular operators, too, are to be blamed for delay in start of the talks. They were reluctant because they were not sure of what they wanted, sources said.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is giving final touches to a draft interconnect agreement on the basis of such pacts in other countries. It will include the timeframe within which interconnectivity should be provided, the tariff that should be charged and the way calls should be routed. The draft will draw heavily on the system followed by British Telecom in the UK. It will also take into account the pattern in developing countries, which are seen as having an operating environment similar to the one in India. It will be based on the cellular-subscriber-pays principle.
The COAI plans to submit the draft being prepared by a 10-member panel consisting of representatives of Birla-AT&T, Tata-Bell Canada, BPL-US West, Escotel, ModiCom, RPG, Hutchison Max and Essar Telecom to TRAI next week.
The TRAI sees for itself a key role in formulation of the final pact. First the two parties have to negotiate. They are bound to agree on some points. Those issues will be scrutinised with the interest of the consumer in mind. Then the points on which the two parties fail to reach an agreement will be taken up, said sources close to TRAI.
