Voda Idea seeks deferring of zero-IUC regime

KOLKATA: Vodafone Idea has urged the telecom regulator to defer scrapping interconnect charges from the planned January 2020 deadline, saying there will always be a cost of terminating a call, and majority of India’s mobile users continue to be on 2G and 3G platforms despite extensive 4G VoLTE network rollouts.

“There’s a need to extend the applicable date, and zero termination charge should not be applicable from January 1, 2020, as mobile termination is a cost-based charge, and can never be zero,” Voda Idea said in its submissions to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), which had sought comments on a proposal to defer introduction of zero interconnect usage charges. Without suggesting a specific duration of IUC extension on grounds that termination costs will always exist, the company instead has urged the regulator to “determine the cost of terminating a call as part of its function under the TRAI Act”.