Rejecting allegations of bias towards new players, TRAI
Chairman R S Sharma said the decision to review interconnection usage
charges (IUC) was taken only after receiving a request on the issue from
existing operators.
“(For) IUC, I think lot of you
have criticised me. A lot of people said we were biased, they said we
were doing it for some operators... It is at the request of telecom
service providers that I am reviewing it,” Mr. Sharma said at a FICCI
event here.
Mr. Sharma said the telcos had brought up
the issue when BSNL rolled out a scheme enabling customers travelling
abroad to make calls from their mobile phones using their landline
connection back home without attracting ISD charges by downloading the
state-run operator’s app.
“TSPs (telecom service
providers) said it wasn't correct because this was some sort of a hybrid
solution. (It was) avoiding a lot of interconnect charges...So we told
BSNL to hold the service. We will have a comprehensive review and
therefore, there was this need to review it.
“So it
wasn't something I could put off because they (operators) said they had
spend Rs 2,000 crore in putting up some next-gen network,” he said.
The
regulator has also called for a meeting with operators on September 30
(Friday) to discuss alleged violations of tariff orders by the newcomer
Relaince Jio.
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