Bhaskar Hazarika
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited 'OneIndia' Scheme failed to takeoff at the last minute after the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) cited number of issues over call rates and the timing of the launch.
The failure of the scheme has disappointed the Union Minister of Communications Dayanidhi Maran who was keen to announce the launch of the oneIndia on the 57th Republic day. This is the second time that the scheduled launch of the service failed disappointing the long distance subscribers. Initially the plan was targeted to be announced on January 1.
The BSNL board meeting, which was convened to discuss the OneIndia tariff issue, went on till late night on Wednesday finally decided to postpone the launch as it failed to yield any result on Access Deficit Charge (ADC) and call rates related to the plan. BSNL officials informed they have sought for some more time to finalise the plans before announcing it.
“We would require an additional time of around three to six months so that we can discuss the issues like ADC, tariff rates and interconnection with operators,” the officials said.
Telecom service providers have been demanding that the Government must address issues such as ADC (which private telecom companies pay to state-owned BSNL) and lowering the carriage charge further before introducing India One tariffs.
OneIndia is a plan for single uniform rate based on the weighted average cost involved in carriage of telephone calls. Currently, the maximum STD rate is Rs 2.80 a minute, which incorporates the carriage cost and the ADC. The carriage cost varies between 20 paise and Rs 1.10 a minute depending on the distance of the call. The carriage charge is the amount paid to the long distance carrier by the cellular and fixed telephone operator.
According to the Department of Telecom's draft New Telecom Policy, the India One tariff concept would apply to STD calls to anywhere in India. The policy says that the rate could be a single uniform rate irrespective of the distance slab and without `zero dialling.'
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