The draft National Telecom Policy 2011 (NTP) proposes to introduce a one nation-one licence regime for operators and eliminate roaming charges. However, no time-frame for implementing this measure has been specified.
The new policy, scheduled to be unveiled by end-2011, also suggests expanding the scope of mobile number portability (MNP) and allowing consumers to retain their numbers when they move to a new city or any location in the country without having to pay roaming charges.
At present, MNP is restricted to a circle.
It is believed that operators may oppose these suggestions in particular eliminating roaming charges, as roaming generates 10 per cent of their total revenues.
Under current rules, an operator can charge a maximum of Re 1.40 per minute for a local call while the user is traveling outside his home network while for STD calls, the limit is Rs 2.40 per minute for all outgoing and Rs 1.75 per minute for all incoming calls while on roaming, irrespective of the distance.
