GSM "cartel" against BSNL, MTNL: Trai

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) has said private GSM operators were acting as a "cartel" against MTNL and BSNL and charging higher tariffs from customers for calls terminating in the networks of the two state-run companies.

The telecom regulator's contention came before the tribunal TDSAT on the case over the issue of differential tariff being charged by GSM operators for calls in four networks where direct connectivity has been allowed.

"These GSM operators are acting as a cartel against the state-owned MTNL and BSNL... And are accusing BSNL of having a monopolistic attitude," Meet Malhotra, counsel of Trai, said before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

The government has permitted direct connectivity between Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra, Kolkata and West Bengal, Chennai and rest of Tamil Nadu and two parts of UP (East and West). But despite this, the operators were charging higher tariffs for calls terminating on BSNL's CellOne network.

"These operators have still not taken the lease line between the two circles of the states and are routing their calls through National Long Distance (NLD) Service operators," Malhotra contended, and added the operators were themselves responsible for high call costs.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the GSM industry body, had contended that since there was no direct connectivity between their networks, calls had to be routed like STD calls. This led to higher tariffs, it argued.

COAI had earlier challenged in the TDSAT a directive by Trai issued on February 26 to remove differential tariffs for calls terminating on the BSNL/MTNL network in the four states.