The Department of Telecommunications is seeking a speedy implementation of the Carrier Access Code that will open up the Rs 4,500-crore (Rs 45 billion) National Long Distance voice market.
The move is slated to benefit the private NLD operators -- Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Bharti Tele-Ventures and Reliance Infocomm -- and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
"The department is looking at the representations of the three private long distance operators and allegations that operators are focusing only on lucrative routes in absence of rollout obligations. The priority of the department is to ensure fair competition and an harmonious investment environment in the industry," sources close to the development told Business Standard.
The industry has also suggested the inclusion of CAC under the proposed National Telecom Policy - 2005, which at present is under the consideration of Telecom Commissioner.
CAC is a concept that enables the customer to select the carrier of his choice while making domestic long distance calls. It has been implemented in various geographies across the world and offers 'the power of choice' to the consumer.
In October 2002, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had sought a mandatory implementation of CAC by all access providers within six months, a move that was strongly resisted by the state-owned telecom major, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
However, Trai chairman Pradip Baijal said that CAC is in a stalemate. "Nothing is happening on the CAC front, and the regulator is looking at various aspects of the issue."
Indian NLD voice market garners 14 billion minutes, generating over Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) per annum. Of this, the NLD operators get only 23-25 per cent as carriage charges.
A significant part of this revenue goes to the originating access provider and towards Access Deficit Charges.
Out of the 110 million telecom subscribers, roughly 58 million subscribers of BSNL and MTNL use BSNL's captive NLD services.
Reliance and Bharti have captive NLD operations for their 13 million subscribers each, while VSNL has a captive base for Tata Teleservices' 5.5 million subscribers.
This, leaves an addressable market of roughly 20 million subscribers of Idea Cellular, Hutch, BPL, Aircel, Shyam and HFCL from a standalone NLDO perspective.
