Press trust of india
New Delhi, Sept 19: Mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio, have submitted call traffic data to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), a move that will enable the regulator to look at the pattern, including asymmetric traffic on networks, as part of its consultation on inter-connection usage charges (IUC).
“The data pertaining to incoming and outgoing minutes have been submitted by the operators – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio, BSNL and MTNL. The data will enable Trai to examine the asymmetry of traffic in the context of the IUC consultation paper that has been floated recently,” sources told PTI.
Although the details submitted by the five operators pertain to call traffic patterns, it is unlikely to be directly relevant to the inter-connect dispute that is currently playing out in the telecom sector where incumbent operators have clashed with Reliance Jio for unleashing “unprecedented asymmetry of traffic”.
This is because the data pertain to July when the new entrant was still in a test phase, the sources added.
“Theoretically, the incoming calls should be equal to outgoing calls, that is, in 4-5 years, call traffic tends to become symmetric… but some operators claim there is asymmetry… so we sought operator-wise data on how much asymmetry exists, which operators are facing it, what is the reason… is it due to tariff plans or consumer behaviour,” the sources added.
The operators, who had earlier not submitted these details even after a reminder, were given time till September 16 to submit the same. Last month, Trai had issued a discussion paper to review inter-connection usage charges (IUC) following a complaint by the Cellular Operators Association of India against a BSNL service that allowed its subscribers to make calls on mobile and landline through a mobile app. COAI had alleged that the offer was in violation of licensing norms as well as inter-connection pacts.
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