MTNL may launch limited mobile service next week

NEW DELHI, SEPT 2: Customers in Delhi and Mumbai may get a bonanza next week with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited MTNL likely to ...

NEW DELHI, SEPT 2: Customers in Delhi and Mumbai may get a bonanza next week with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited MTNL likely to launch its wirelesss-in-local-loop WLL mobile phone service, and that too at a much reduced rate than what was earlier announced. After opposing the introduction of the WLL service last month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI has decided to grant clearance to this project only if MTNL declares this service as a cellular service.

Once MTNL launches this as a cellular phone 8212; admittedly, its range will be limited in comparison to a genuine GSM-technology cellphone 8212; the monthly rental package will also come down significantly. For one, while MTNL was planning to charge a rental of Rs 1,000 per month, this will now come down to Rs 600, and even lower once the new cellphone package gets cleared in line with the TRAI8217;s consultation paper. The refundable deposit for the handset will also be lowered to Rs 10,000. As for the air-time, the TRAI prescribes only the maximum tariff 8212; so, MTNL will be free to stick to its original plan of charging Rs 1.40 for a three minute call.

If the package is approved by the TRAI, 10,000 such phones may be launched in Delhi and Mumbai next week. 8220;TRAI requires us to file the tariff package with them five working days in advance before launching a new package,8221; says MTNL chairman and managing director S Rajagopalan. 8220;We will comply with all TRAI directions of providing a standard tariff package which offers airtime at Rs 6 per minute and some alternative packages which allow us to charge lower rates,8221; he added.

Says Rajagopalan, 8220; we will cater to a niche segment of consumers as ours is a limited area of coverage for which we have a valid licence and we are in a position to provide an affordable service, even though this is after some delay .8221; 8220;We will now aggressively cover the whole of Delhi and Mumbai once we have declared it a cellular service using a different technology,8221; Rajagopalan explained.

This, however, may not be the end of MTNL8217;s problems. Even if it gets clearance from the TRAI, MTNL may have problems with non-compliant equipment from Qualcomm for the WLL project with nobody willing to rectify the faults making the commercial launch difficult. Qualcomm, the company which supplied the equipment for the WLL project, itself has virtually closed shop in India. Multinational Swedish company Ericsson, which has bought over Qualcomm8217;s Ramp;D facilities in the US, has washed its hand off any of Qualcomm8217;s obligations in India.

8220;We have only bought over Qualcomm8217;s CDMA equipment manufacturing facilities in San Diego and some of their Ramp;D facilities,8221; says Anil Raj, Ericsson8217;s managing director in India, speaking to The Indian Express. 8220;We have not bought any stock of the company and therefore we have nothing to do with the other businesses of the company and Qualcomm8217;s obligations in India are their own and cannot be looked after by Ericsson,8221; he added.

The WLL equipment has problems with regard to data and fax transmission, detailed bulk billing, false ring back when subscriber is outside coverage area and call tracing.

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MTNL had started a pilot project for its WLL services almost three years ago with Qualcomm as its partner to set up the project. WLL services basically use a wireless technology to provide normal telephone service without having to lay cables as in the traditional telephone business. The range within which the WLL phone can be used is also more around 10 to 15 km than the normal landline phone. Of late, however, Small and sleek handsets 8211; the size of a cellphone have also become available, which then can be carried around and provide mobility, but at the price of a basic phone.

In the first phase, MTNL tried this for 1,000 lines in elhi. Last year, the company wanted to expand this to 10,000 lines in Delhi and Mumbai for which the Qualcomm equipment for the project was to be routed through public sector ITI Ltd. Most of the equipment for the project has been lying with MTNL for months now, with both the TRAI and malfunctioning equipment, keeping the project on hold.