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Cellular operators seek moratorium on licence fees

Faced with poor market response in the past two years, the operators are unable to meet the licence stipulations, which include a December deadline to

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• Net  work • Moratorium sought • Computer courseware • Xerox marks India

cover 50 per cent of the districts in the operating circles.

The operators in Delhi, Bombay and Madras enjoy a three-year moratorium.

With the prohibitive cost of the handsets and call charges almost hampering subscription levels, the operators have approached the finance ministry for redressal, according to K S Reddy, vice-president, Andhra Pradesh region, JTM Mobile Phone Service.

At a press conference in Hyderabad this week he announced the launch of a fax and data service in Andhra Pradesh. Reddy lamented the problems of the operators in a high-cost service and said JTM has to pay an annual licence fee of Rs 2.1 billion for Andhra Pradesh alone for a ten-year period, which is a huge burden when considered with the expenditure the company has to make in building the networks and the backbone.

JTM has been licensed to operate in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, apart from an arrangement with Essar in Punjab.

Explaining the new value-added service, Reddy said it is an extension of the mobile concept of telephony. Mobile phone users are increasingly feeling the need for fax and data transfer through cellular phones.

One can transmit and receive fax messages to and from any part of the world through a desktop or notebook computer by means of a JTM mobile handset and a matching adapter. Data can be freely exchanged between computers.

By simply fixing a 'personal computer memory card international association' card, a subscriber can send or receive fax and data while on the move.

This service can be used only via the main 'mobile station integrated services digital network' number and the subscriber has the option to take the fax or data service. It is not necessary for them to opt for both. The subscriber will get two separate numbers, one for fax and the other for data, apart from the main MSISDN number.

A subscriber has to possess a handset with fax and data computability, a laptop with a PCMCIA card with the required software or a PC. In the case of a PC, an additional software would be required - a fixed circuit telephone or the GSM data module.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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