Both the cellular service providers of Calcutta have gone ahead andintroduced free incoming calls for their subscribers and the increasedtraffic has created problems. How are you tackling it?

We have asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to install threeextra links between us and the DoT. The two cellular service providers, thatis we and Command have installed an extra link between the two of us, whichis a great help in terms of calls from one network to the other network. Ifeel, as soon as the `calling party pays' regime comes into effect thisproblem will decrease as people will be less inclined to call mobiles frombasic telephones and traffic will decrease.

Actually the problem would not have arisen if incomings became free onNovember 1. However, Command jumped the gun and did it and we had no optionbut to follow suit. We did not foresee that Command would introduce it twomonths in advance. Then we had to introduce corrective steps in our systemto take care of the extra traffic. It is an unnatural situation and not atrue reflection of the probable scenario. But the free incoming calls havehelped expose the product to the customers.

What will business be like in the new scenario with the revenue sharingarrangement and the `calling party pays' regime?

We were always expecting to get revenue sharing. However we were not readyfor the cut in revenues that will come in with the CPP regime. I believe theCellular Operators Association of India is preparing a presentation for theTelecom Regulatory Authority of India for the final round of consultations.They will stress on the fact that since revenues are decreasing, the revenuesharing formula should be reworked.

For the last few months we have been drawing up business plans anddiscarding them as we are still not sure what the final tariff will be. Thishas hampered our planning process. If you compare the tariff we werecharging for incoming calls a year back and what they will be under the CPPregime you will be able to understand the problem. It will be a huge dropeven from TRAI's standard plan if the current proposals go through. In thisscenario the cellular operators will have much less resources at theirdisposal, than what would be necessary to be invested as capital in order togive a better service to the customers. Especially under the CPP regime thepatronage is going to increase.

What are the other issues that you would like TRAI to address, whichwould help your industry to stabilise?

Well, interconnect for instance is one such issue. Every month we get billsfrom the DoT about the calls made to their systems from our networks, eitherthe long distance calls or the international calls through VSNL. The billsrun into crores of rupees every month, irrespective of whether we are ableto recover the same from our customers or not. The issue here is that we aregenerating so much traffic for the DoT and VSNL and would like them to carefor our problems too.

They must also work on domestic long distance telephony and the CPP regime.But I feel there must be an end to this spectacle of DoT or MTNL taking theTRAI to the court every other day. The regulator will have to be the bigbrother and must tell DoT that they must play ball. It is a worldwideexperience that the monopoly carrier is loathe to give away its powers.However, this cycle of litigations is unheard of in most countries and Ifeel this should be sorted out by legislation. One day DoT must stop tryingto be everything and evolve into a corporate entity called India Telecom andleave policy matters and licensing with the ministry.

The revenue sharing regime will mean that duopoly will be done away withand there will be a third and a fourth operator in every circle and metros.Do you think it is feasible in the current scenario?

The third operator will be in most cases the DoT itself. But as I see it,especially in case of Calcutta metro - here we have two operators losingmoney. What is the point in having three or four operators all losing money.For the West Bengal circle we only have Reliance Telecom, there is no secondoperator either and Reliance has a very limited number of subscribers allover the state. So I do not see the point in opening up the sector for otheroperators and I feel more operators will not be interested in coming ineither.

You have a very low subscriber base in Calcutta, compared to other metrosand even some of the circles of western India. What do you plan to do toattain a greater subscriber base?

I feel there is something the government can do here. The major barrier inIndia till today is the high price of handsets. There is this 53 per centimport duty on handsets which was imposed in order to encourage localmanufacturers to come up and manufacture handsets.

No Indian manufacturer has come forward - however this duty has helped thegrey market in a big way. I feel if the import duty can be brought down toaround 10 per cent, it will be a big boost for the industry as a lot ofpeople will be buying handsets with a lower price.