The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said it would determine new interconnection usage charges (IUC) payable by one operator to another for carrying phone calls of their subscribers in next three months, according to news reports.
IUC are charges payable by one telecom operator to the other for use of the latter’s network either for originating, terminating, transiting or carrying a call. Inter-operator calls constitute a major portion of the total calls that are handled by the network.
In early February, the Supreme Court had directed TRAI to develop new norms on interconnect regulation within four months after consultation with various stakeholders in the industry.
The court has also asked TRAI to fix transit carriage charge liability on each operator. Following this order, the regulator has floated a tender to appoint an agency for calculating liability of transit carriage charges on individual operators.
