Trai seeks call traffic details from telecom operators

Move will help reduce call drops

As incumbent telecom operators and new entrant Reliance Jio continued to spar over interconnection issue, the sector regulator Trai has asked all telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio, BSNL and MTNL to submit call details to it by September 16.

The call details will help to examine the traffic pattern on respective telecom network as the regulator has started studying the complaints on interconnection issue, said a senior official from Trai.

Interconnection is required to enable mobile users to make calls to customers of other telecom networks. If a subscriber of a particular mobile operator received a call from another subscriber of a different network, the telecom operator that received calls will levy inter-connection usage charges ( IUC) for each incoming call.

The issue of IUC was first triggered after BSNL announced a new service that allowed its subscribers to make calls on mobile and landline through a mobile app.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) opposed the BSNL service alleging that state-run telecom operators’ offer was in violation of licensing norms, as well as, interconnect pacts. However, BSNL service could not be made operational as the regulator asked to hold the launch till the matter is resolved.

Following the complaint from the COAI, Trai had on August 5 issued a discussion paper to review IUC norms. Recently, again the row over IUC cropped up as Reliance Jio made allegations against incumbent telecom operators -— Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular — that they were not providing proper interconnection for its service.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular are learnt to have submitted their applications to participate in the largest-ever spectrum auction scheduled to start from October 1.