They have suggested a gradual reduction in long distance tariffs and a phased hike in the rentals and review of the tariff structure in the light of its impact on demand, revenue and traffic after one year.

In their submissions to Trai, DoT has stated that surplus revenue generation would be affected by 35 to 55 per cent, while private basic operators like Bharti Telcom and Essar estimated a downfall of 30 per cent.

DoT fears lower revenue generation by nearly 50 per cent and a slump in demand of basic services. It has also said that the proposed tariff hike is very steep, abrupt and may hamper growth of tele density.

According to the status report released by Trai on the tariff consultation process, DoT also submitted that lesser surplusrevenue generation could hamper reinvestment process, as 65 to 70 per cent of resources have to be mobilised internally.

The first phase of the consultation process has now been completed with comments from operators, associations and individuals. "Trai has now moved into the penultimate phase of the tariff fixing process", said chairman Justice S S Sodhi.

The association of basic telecom operators (ABTO) had submitted that the proposed rentals were below cost-based limits and had asked for rebalancing tariff on revenue neutral ground for private operators.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has asked for a two-phase implementation of rentals and said that authority to fix free calls should be left to individual operators. It has suggested a one rupee local call charge for calls made from public call offices.

For long distance call charges, DoT has suggested 15 to 20 per cent reduction instead of the 50 per cent proposed by Trai and said that reduction of peak hours from 17 hours to eight hourswill adversely affect its revenue. ABTO has also called for increasing peak time to 12 hours.

Cellular operators have asked for a differential tariff structure for metros and circles with no price regulation for value added services including voice mail and call identification. They have also proposed a hike in call charge form the proposed Rs 6 per minute.

ABTO has favoured revenue sharing for interconnection between DoT and operators in a ratio of 75:25 in favour of private operators for all STD and ISD calls.

After meeting all operators by November 13, Trai will hold open house sessions in various parts of the country towards finalising the proposals. Open houses will be conducted at Delhi, Jammu, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Lucknow and Mumbai by December 3, 1998.