Telcos urge Trai to fix floor price

Mumbai: Telecom operators have asked the sector regulator to hasten the process to fix a minimum tariff for services, saying it was essential to the long-term sustainable health of the sector and help companies absorb the blow of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents private players Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm, in a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also sought an open house on the matter “urgently”.

“Given the financial pressure on the sector and the fact that ARPU (average revenue per user) and tariffs of the Indian telecom sector are the lowest in the world, floor pricing is imperative to ensure that the sector is sustainable, and is in a position to bear the deferred spectrum and AGR dues, while continuing to invest in world class networks and services,” COAI said in a letter to Trai chairman RS Sharma.