Telecom subscribers would soon have the option of choosing long distance operators for making ISD and STD calls. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is likely to implement the much-delayed carrier access code (CAC) shortly. The move comes after the department of telecommunications (DoT) recently decided to implement mobile number portability.
Once CAC is implemented, the subscriber of say BSNL can use the network of companies like Bharti Airtel or Reliance Communications to make STD/ISD calls by dialling a prescribed code. This empowers consumers with more choice and brings about more competition in the long distance call rates.
“We recently had discussion with all stakeholders on carrier access code. It is required at this stage and nobody is against it. We have to see how implement it. While the method of implementation (call by call or pre-selected basis) remains an issue, some operators have concerns about the cost. Different methodologies have different costs and the challenge is to balance cost implementation with consumer benefit. We should be able to take a decision on the same soon,? a Trai official said.
Being a tariff-related measure, Trai?s decision on the CAC would be final. As reported by FE earlier, Trai had put the implementation of the CAC on the backburner last December since it felt at that time with intelligent network (IN) regulations being put in place, the choice of carriers to consumers would be available through virtual calling cards, and hence, there was no need to implement the CAC.
Moreover, some telecom operators were opposed to the idea as it required them to invest Rs 2,000 crore for network upgrade. The constantly falling STD and ISD rates led operators to claim there was no need for the CAC as there was enough competition in the market. The government had also requested Trai to give some time to BSNL as its revenues would have shrunk with the implementation of the CAC.
?Implementation of carrier access code will require modification in existing switches, which is not feasible… But the sector has been opened up and all operators are coming. Naturally, there will be some impact on our NLD/ILD business with the entry of new players, but all that is part of the game,? said BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal.
BSNL?s business from ILD segment is around Rs 1,400 crore per annum. It gets about Rs 10,000 crore per annum from NLD business. MTNL gets about 50% of its revenue from local calls, whereas 15% is from ILD business.
According to an MTNL executive, ?The CAC will require network upgrade, but it will give facility to the customer to choose a carrier of his choice. As far as competition is concerned, PSUs will have to take competition to improve their performance.?