The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday said it would pass an order within the next two days on whether WLL operators, including Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices, can offer SMS (Short Message Service) through their networks.

''We will take a decision in the next two days whether SMS can be offered by WLL operators,'' Trai chairman J S Verma told mediapersons after releasing a survey on the quality of basic and cellular services.

Cellular operators had approached Trai in protest against offer by Reliance and Tata to offer SMS, alleging that it violated the license agreement that WLL operators will only offer voice services.

This is one of the two major allegations of cellular operators against WLL players, the other being provision of roaming services.

Cellular operators also termed the offer as ‘against license agreement,' which says that WLL services will be restricted to short distance calling area.

However, Reliance Infocomm argued that it has not offered any roaming services but multi-registration facility to its customers.

The company said it abides by the license agreement and calls in its network drop once SDCA is crossed and the subscriber is connected only on another number.

The case is pending in the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal.

A group of cellular and basic operators, set up by Telecom Minister Arun Shourie, is also looking into the issue.

To another query on a rise in dial-up charges of internet access following the Trai order on the inter-connect user charge, Verma said the issue is under consideration of the authority. The authority has already held meetings with ISPs and basic telephone operators on the issue, he revealed.

UNI