GSM, CDMA oprs, BSNL oppose ceiling on roaming tariff

Telecom regulator TRAI's move to fix a new ceiling on roaming tariffs is being unilaterally opposed by State-run BSNL as well as private GSM and CDMA operators, as they want market forces to determine the rates.

Roaming tariff should be under forbearance and market forces should determine the tariff, officials of BSNL, GSM industry body COAI and CDMA operators association AUSPI said ahead of TRAI's open house tomorrow to review roaming rates.

In fact, there should not be any ceiling on incoming or outgoing national calls. There is forbearance in mobile tariff as there is enough competition in the mobile service segment, the same should be applied to roaming services as well, a BSNL official said.

While BSNL's is buttressing its argument, saying that roaming service is in itself not a 'market', but is a mere mechanism to connect a customer who is out of the home network, the CDMA and GSM operators hold the view that TRAI's interference on micro-management of tariffs is unnecessary on this front.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said the tariff offered under different packages for different services like rental, local call charges, NLD, roaming and SMS charges are decided based on the overall ARPU (average revenue per user) under each tariff package.

The charges for each individual service under a package are not necessarily cost based. While some of the services may be offered below cost so as to attract the specific class of users, tariff for some of the other services under the package may be above cost, COAI said.

Revenues from roaming account for only around 10 per cent of net service revenues. So any exercise to review roaming tariffs must be done in conjunction with a review of the overall cost and tariff structure of the industry, it added.

The operators are charging well below the prescribed ceiling. As against a ceiling of Rs 100 per month, the operators are charging Rs 50 from their subscribers and in return, offering them much lower charges on roaming in their own network, COAI said.

Any micro management of tariffs will significantly reduce the flexibility of operators in offering the overall most affordable services to the various customer segments.

"We are not in agreement with the Authority's proposal to lay down a roaming tariff structure as in this era of intense competition, it is neither necessary nor desirable," a COAI official said.