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New Delhi, Aug 14: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has locked horns with private telecom operators over revision of port charges for points of interconnect. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has initiated the move to revise downwards the port charges for points of interconnects between different telecom operators. Since the present regulation on port charges came into force in December 2003 and equipment costs have come down substantially since then, Trai feels the need for a revision which promises to bring down telecom tariff, sources said.
The regulator has initiated discussions with the operators on the issue. Operators under the aegis of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Service Providers of India (Auspi) have told Trai that if port charges are lowered they would pass on the benefits to the consumers in the form of lower tariff.
However, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which provides the most points of interconnects (PoIs) to private operators is not very keen on any downward revision as it would lose in the process. Port charges are nearly a Rs 165 crore business for BSNL.
Currently, an operator has to pay Rs 55,000 per port. Industry observers said that as per the market, the cost of a port should be around Rs 15-16,000. Sources said that BSNL provides roughly 30,000 ports to private operators in a year. Ports are E1 switches through which interconnection is provided.
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