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Cell operators oppose limited mobility

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Nov. 22

CELLULAR operators have vehemently opposed the move to allow basic telecom companies to provide limited mobile phone services using the wireless in local loop (WLL) platform, saying that this would result in a ``backdoor entry'' to the cellular services sector.

``We can provide full mobility with our cellular services at the cost that the fixed phone operators promise to offer with their WLL platform, provided we are also given the same terms and conditions,'' said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General of the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), here on Tuesday.

Mr Ramachandran said the present tariff structure of the cellular services are costly to many people because the companies are having to pass on their ``burden of interconnectivity and other charges to the end-customers.''

``Allowing the fixed phone services operators to provide limited mobility is tantamount to allowing them to enter the cellular service through the backdoor. There is no mechanism to police the limited mobility distance as of now,'' he said.

On the other hand, the private sector basic telecom operators have been demanding that they be allowed to offer limited mobile phone services using the WLL platform as an extension of the basic services.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is expected to come out with a decision in this matter in the first week of next month.

Mr Ramachandran said if at all the Government wants to allow limited mobility services through the WLL, a different set of terms and conditions, akin to that of the cellular operators, should be put in place.

He said if the levies on cellular services are brought down, that would pave the way for an affordable service for the common man and result in an exponential growth for the cellular industry.

The move to allow limited mobility would send wrong signals to the investors and have an adverse impact on the foreign direct investment in the country. Currently, 50 per cent of the FDI in the telecom sector is accounted for by the cellular services.

Asked about a fourth cellular operator coming to the scene, Mr Ramachandran said entry fee and other terms for it should also be identical to that of the existing players.