TDSAT to hear petitions against TRAI on May 26

NEW DELHI: To resolve the ongoing differences between the telecom operators and the regulator, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has decided to hear petitions filed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) against the telecom regulator on May 26.

TDSAT will hear the three petitions collectively, challenging the telecom regulator on differential tariffs, qualitative service norms and interconnectivity.

Justice N Santosh Hegde, chairman, TDSAT, decided for collective hearing, as interconnectivity between the telecom operators was common in the three petitions.

BSNL has challenged the regulator on interconnectivity, while the COAI has challenged the regulator over differential tariffs and qualitative service norms.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had directed BSNL to provide interconnectivity to other operators within 90 days, which was opposed by BSNL. The operator said that it does not have the required infrastructure to provide interconnectivity.

TRAI had issued notices to operators regarding the quality of services and said that call-drops should not be more than 0.5 per cent as per the international standard. COAI challenged it and contended that till date TRAI has not codified any norms for the quality of the services and blamed it on BSNL for providing poor quality of interconnectivity between them.

It also challenged TRAI's regulation on differential tariffs. Operators were charging more money for the calls terminating at the state run BSNL or MTNL network in comparison to other service providers' networks.

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