Decision on telecom tariff soon

CHENNAI, Feb 8: The telecom ministry will take a decision on tariff restructuring proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority in a week'...

CHENNAI, Feb 8: The telecom ministry will take a decision on tariff restructuring proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority in a week8217;s time after a meeting between the members of the TRAI and the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Union minister for communications Jagmohan said today.

Talking to newsmen after releasing the MAX-XL telephone exchange manufactured by the HTL here, he said as the authority8217;s proposals to revise the tariff structure had received opposition from some quarters, the ministry had convened the meeting for next week in order to take a final decision in this regard.

Indicating that the much-awaited Mahanagar Telecom Nigam LimitedMTNL for the Chennai city, was unlikely to come up at least in the near future, he said the department was of the view that it would affect the revenue prospects of the Chennai telecom circle which was spending all its revenue to develop its network in the rural areas.

One view has it that if MTNL was allowed, it would affect the revenue of Chennaicircle and ultimately affect the investments in rural areas, he said.

quot;I don8217;t mind giving it. But it is a matter of balancing the twoquot; revenue aspect and spending in rural areas, he added. Jagmohan said the department would use the indigenous C-DOT technology while setting up exchanges in rural areas as it was possible to set up an exchange even for a minimum of 500 lines. The technology had a special relevance for developing countries, including India. quot;We do not have to import any foreign technology for this purpose,quot; he added.

The technology was demonstrated to South Africa and that country was very much impressed, he claimed. He said the quot;Cordectquot; technology developed by the Indian Institute of Technology IIT here, seemed to be extremely cost-effective and after it was tested by the Chennai circle, the department would take it up in a big scale.

Replying to a question, he said the test report would be ready in three to six months8217; time. The technology, tested in laboratory, provedoperationally feasible and environmentally suitable.