As a result, assuming that a user makes a three-minute landline-to-cellphone call, he will have to shell out a whopping Rs 11.70 for the same. Higher bills notwithstanding, the upside to this is that users will be provided with detailed bills enabling them to monitor usage.

Sources said that the Department of Telecommunications and MTNL will charge all landline calls to cellular mobiles on a periodic metering basis. The feature of detailed billing over junction is also being tested at the sites, with billing centres being upgraded to process the detailed bill based on the dialled digits, 98100 (for cellular) or 9602 (for pager) or a normal six/seven digit landline number.

DoT circles (contagious with states) and MTNL inMumbai and Delhi are currently examining the status of the switches at the point of interconnection (PoI), as a number of DoT switches do not have the facility of detailed billing over incoming as well as outgoing junctions.

DoT has instructed all telecom circles in the country to either upgrade or replace such switches with more advanced switches at the PoI. In the event of this not being possible, circle heads have been directed to shift the PoI to a switch that supports detailed billing on incoming and outgoing junctions. DoT has also decided that in the event of a local telephone exchange being incapable of periodic metering, the metering pulses can be received from the PoI switch.

Sources said the telecom circles have already been advised to initiate action to implement the above charging principle, in order to ensure that the calling-party-pays system is implemented from August 1. A number of circles have already achieved compliance with the directives, with the Kerala telecom circle submitting areport in this regard in April itself.

Cellular companies are obviously happy over the CPP as it will increase the proliferation of cellular phones. But it is the cash-surplus DoT & MTNL which will laugh all the way to the bank. Cellular users will encourage calls from a landline to their mobile in order to save on airtime, a practice which will increase the number of calls from DoT/MTNL landlines.

Cellular opearators will also get an increased share of the revenue of the call as a result of the new interconnect and revenue share order notified by the TRAI recently. The CPP regime will also mean that although cellular usage will increase in India, charges for landline calls will resemble the international scenario where calls from a landline to cellular cost more.