Should per-second tariff be made compulsory?
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (Trai) is planning to make the one-second pulse a mandatory tariff option
for all operators, a move that will benefit consumers by potentially reducing
call charges and adding transparency to their tariff plans.
"We may ask all operators to
consider the per-second pulse as a mandatory tariff option along with their
other tariff plans," The move will benefit consumers because it will
reduce the "wastage" per call, which some telecom companies put at
about 18 per cent. Currently, most telecom companies fix the minimum pulse rate
at 60 seconds. "On average, consumers do not use 15 to 20 seconds of a
call but pay for it because of the one-minute pulse rate. A per-second pulse
would mean they would save, ".
Sarma said TRAI will soon come out
with a consultation paper on the subject. "Even in the per-second tariff
plan, operators must ensure that all the riders and caveats are clearly brought
out," he added.
Some telecom companies have already
launched the one-second pulse rate plan. In Tata DoCoMo's case, for instance,
the move has helped the company build a subscriber base of around 7 million
since it launched GSM mobile services three months ago. The company offers one
second for one paisa.
Last week, state-run Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd introduced the one paise per second pulse (for local calls) and two
paise per second pulse (for national long-distance calls) in Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and Orissa.
Telecom operators, especially incumbents, may see average revenue per user
(ARPU) and revenues falling as a result of this new stipulation."The
impact might be significant to operators since revenues might fall, but they
could also make it up by increasing the per second tariff,"
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