New Delhi, Jan 22: Basic telecom players today said that there was ample scope for cellular companies to provide a relief to their subscribers by not charging Rs 1.20 towards access charges, as this could be taken out of exorbitantly high airtime charges being paid by the customers. For the second consecutive day the Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO) wrote to TRAI not to succumb to the pressure by cellular industry demanding imposition of an access charge for usage of their network by basic operators offering fixed line and WLL based limited mobile services.
Meanwhile, TRAI today said it would be announcing revised basic telecom tariff including Interconnect User Charge (IUC) within 2-3 days.
Any imposition of IUC would have a long term implication on affordability as this would enhance the current rates payable by customers using fixed line phones and WLL phones.
According to ABTO, the cellular operators have super normal profitability and this was already observed by TRAI in its consultation paper.
"There is an ample scope for cellular companies to provide relief to cellular subscribers by not unnecessarily billing them for the so called PSTN (access) charges. The rate can easily be taken out of their airtime charges being collected from their subscribers," ABTO said in a letter. Bureau Report