Vodafone India has challenged the Telecom regulatory authority of India's decision to lower the interconnection charges that the calling operator pays to the operator on whose network the call terminates. Vodafone has stated that the TRAI has taken a hasty decision in reducing the charges and that cases pertaining to this topic are already pending hearing in court and until those are cleared this move cannot be passed.
The TRAI has on 23rd of this month passed an order that reduces the interconnection charges for mobile to mobile calls by 30% to 14p and abolishes the interconnection charges for landlines completely which was earlier 20p. This decision is the most beneficial to operators like MTNL, BSNL, Airtel that have landline business and smaller operators like videocon and uninor who pay more interconnection charges than they receive since lesser calls terminate on their network. TRAI's decision impacts Vodafone's revenue considerably and hence the plea in court.
It will be after today's hearing that we will have a clearer picture of whether or not we can expect a reduction in voice tariffs by operators. Let us know your views and opinions through your comments.
