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Cell operators bunch up to counter BSNL tariffs

Thomas K Thomas in New Delhi

Private cellular operators have called an emergency meeting to draw a contingency plan to counter Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's low tariff under the CellOne schemes.

Industry sources said cellular companies would prefer to wait in the short term and study the impact of BSNL's tariffs on subscribers and in the long term consider the option of approaching the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India first and later if required the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal.

"We are now looking at the kind of services and network efficiency BSNL will be able to offer and then decide how much premium we can claim for better service quality.

"In the long run, no one will be able to sustain such low tariffs forcing us to seek an intervention of the regulator," said a cellular operator offering services in non-metro cities.

He acknowledged that other operators cannot match BSNL's low tariffs in the long term.

Cellular Operators Association of India officials said the issue is being discussed and a view will be taken in a weeks time.

They claim BSNL has unfairly used its incumbent status in the long distance market and in the fixed line business to waive off the airtime on incoming calls for CellOne subscribers.

The cause of concern for private operators is a package with Rs 325 as rentals announced by BSNL on Saturday in Lucknow.

The first objection to this package is on BSNL giving free incoming calls to CellOne subscribers if the call is made from any of its 37 million fixed line phones or from another CellOne user.

As compared to this, private cell operators offer incoming free only if it is from a subscriber on the same mobile network.

According to cellular operators over 70 per cent of the calls made to and from a cell network is made on a fixed line network and BSNL with over 90 per cent market share in the fixed line market can afford to implement such a package.

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