Fixing floor prices critical amid financial stress in telecom: COAI

Despite financial constraints during the pandemic, service providers continued to plough in significant investments, the COAI argued

With the telecom industry facing several financial stress, industry body COAI on Tuesday insisted that floor price fixation is absolutely critical and the need of the hour.

"In the last few years, fixation on floor prices has become a critical issue and is the need of the hour today with the telecom industry going through major financial stress," S P Kochhar, director-general of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), said in a statement.

"It is important to understand that the telcos have incurred losses because of the downward pricing trend of data tariffs. Revenue generation is now essential to sustain their financial health," Kochhar added.

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"Floor prices must be fixed to provide some relief from the immense cost burden. Floor prices should be fixed for data only for an interim period, say two years, and voice calls/tariffs can be excluded from this," the association said.

Despite the financial constraints faced by them during the pandemic, the telecom service providers continued to plough in significant investments and provide seamless network connectivity to Indians, COAI argued.

The COAI's members include Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.