TRAI has slashed the termination fee paid by operators by 33 per cent, a move that will help telecom companies reduce their local as well as national long distance (NLD) tariffs by up to 20 per cent.

TRAI has slashed the termination fee paid by operators by 33 per cent, a move that will help telecom companies reduce their local as well as national long distance (NLD) tariffs by up to 20 per cent. The termination fee for all types of domestic calls, viz fixed to fixed, fixed to mobile, mobile to fixed, and mobile to mobile has been reduced from Re 0.30 per minute to Re 0.20 per minute. The charge currently represents nearly 30 per cent of local call tariffs. The changed rates will become effective from April 1, 2009. The lower tariff will also apply to 3G telecom services when they are launched.