Uninor has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to consider a model adopted by the European Commission with regard to as it attempts to cut interconnection usage charges ( IUC ).
This comes after Vodafone Essar opposed the review process being undertaken by the regulator, stating that it deviated from the directives of the courts that had examined the issue. Also, other incumbent GSM operators are opposed to any cuts in these charges.
Prior to this, TRAI floated a consultation paper on IUC charges and sought views of the industry on a range of issues that included the possibility of doing away with call termination charges.
Uninor has told TRAI that the model used by the European Commission will ensure that “no operator makes any losses in extending interconnect services to another operator”, and at the same time, also guarantee that no mobile phone firm “makes any undue gains by charging more than what it costs”. Called the ‘avoidable costs’ model, here the operator calculates the cost it would avoid if it were to not offer any termination facility. This ‘avoidable cost’ alone is then the basis to price termination charges.
