Fixed line users may be the net losers
- a. Charges will go up, as interconnection and termination charges will now be added to the basic call rates for calling into cellular and wll networks.
- b. No standard rate package. Calls made to different services (Cellular/wll/Fixed) will attract different rates.
- c. Calls to mobile phones will become expensive (Rs 1.20 per minute). Now only fixed-to-fixed calls will stay at Rs 1.20 for three minutes.
- d. TRAI has already mooted higher rentals. Different tariff plans will have different rentals, which can be anything between Rs 250 and Rs 2,000.
- e. No more free lunches. Free calls reduced from 75 to 30 per month.
Mobile phone users win some, lose some
- a. Incoming calls are free (from any network or service) from India or abroad. Steep cut in outgoing rates too, but that may change.
- b. No more hidden charges on outgoing as interconnection and termination charges are built into call rates.
- c. Value-added services will become costlier. Cost of SMS has been raised from Rs 1.50 to Rs 2.00. Roaming charges increased.
- d. Processing fee increased by some operators earlier this year. There may be more to come.
WLL users should watch their bills
- a. Calls from your CDMA mobile will not be as cheap as promised as you will have to pay interconnect and termination charges for calling other services (Cellular/Fixed) as fixed by TRAI.
- b. Consumers may find a 100 per cent increase in tariffs in case of some service providers.
- c. Value-added services like SMS and roaming not allowed in limited mobile service. Some operators have approached TRAI for this but are yet to get approval.
- d. The cheap calls will be limited to calls made within the specific network only.
