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Cellular firms plan legal action against BSNL

BS Economy Bureau in New Delhi

Private cellular operators are considering legal action against Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for launching cellular tariffs that are being termed as "anti-competitive".

Cellular operators say BSNL has unfairly used its incumbent status in the long-distance market and the fixed-line segment to waive the airtime on incoming calls for CellOne subscribers.

The main cause of concern for private operators is a package with Rs 325 as rentals announced by BSNL on Saturday in Lucknow.

The first objection to this package is that BSNL is offering free incoming calls to CellOne subscribers if the call is made from any of its 37 million fixed-line phones or from another CellOne user.

As compared to this, private cellular operators offer free incoming calls only from a subscriber on the same mobile network.

While the consumers are not complaining, BSNL's nationwide cellular foray with 4 million lines will pose a stiff challenge to companies like Bharti, which has mobile operations in 16 circles.

Anil Nayyar, president, mobility, Bharti Group said: "BSNL tariffs are destructive and not good for the market. This is something, which the regulator has to look into. Cost of carrying an incoming and an outgoing call is the same, so free incoming does not make sense. Clearly, operators cannot match up with BSNL. Therefore, we have to look for another viable option."

According to cellular operators, more than 70 per cent of the calls made to and from a cellular network is on a fixed-line network and BSNL with over 90 per cent share in the fixed-line market can afford to implement such a package.

"We have been fighting for the calling party pays regime, which would have made incoming calls free, but the BSNL move has completely destroyed our efforts," said a cellular operator.

The second objection raised by private cellular companies is that BSNL has waived off the airtime on long-distance calls, which means a CellOne subscriber only pays the standard trunk dialling component of the call that is a maximum of Rs 9 a minute, while subscribers of other operators pay the STD component as well as the respective airtime tariff.

While cellular operators have termed this as "lack of a level-playing field", independent observers say this is not an advantage just with BSNL but with all integrated telecommunication players like Bharti, Reliance and Tata, who also have their long-distance plans.

"This is more a matter of interconnection in long-distance services than anti-competitiveness. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is already looking at splitting revenues between the originator, carrier and terminator," said an analyst.

Cellular operators are, however, blaming the regulator for not acting in time to separate the accounts of BSNL, which would have removed any doubts of cross subsidisation.

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