Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Wednesday denied allegations that it was blocking calls of private telecom operators like Reliance and Tatas, even as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India asked all operators to maintain "status-quo" till the interconnection norms are announced.
"We are not blocking any calls. We have just sought instructions from the department of telecom and Trai on interconnection usage charges arrangement," Prithipal Singh, chairman and managing director, BSNL, said in New Delhi.
Singh's comments came in the wake of reports that BSNL has been blocking incoming calls from Reliance, and seeking changes in the interconnection norms in line with the new unified access regime.
Meanwhile, D P S Seth, member, Trai, said: "We hope to come out with the final guidelines on interconnection norms in the post-unified regime in about 15 days. Telephone numbering scheme may also undergo some change."
In the meantime, all the operators should continue to operate on the existing interconnection agreements, he said.
Trai has received compliants from basic operators on the issue, Seth said, adding the service providers have sought the regulator's intervention in this regard.
