DoT set to miss free incoming cell calls deadline

Free incoming calls

on cellular phones are unlikely to come into effect on August 1, the deadline

set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( ).

According to the Department

of Telecommunications (DoT) sources the exercise of upgrading close to

25,000 local exchanges all over India is unlikely to be completed by August

1.

This may not be the

only reason for the delay. The laissez-faire policy adopted by TRAI in

the Point of Interconnection (PoI) has also complicated the exercise.

Sources said that

with TRAI allowing a cellular service provider to get PoI from the nearest

exchange relative to his network, the comparatively older E 10 B and C-DoT

exchanges have been added to the long list of exchanges slated for revamp.

A number of DoT switches

do not have the facility of detailed billing over incoming as well as

outgoing junctions. Earlier, PoI was to be provided only from the Level

1 TAX, which is one of the latest exchanges based on new technology that

supports a number of features including the Calling Line Identification

(CLI) feature.

The changes along

with the cost of off-line billing software will affect DoT/MTNL finances.