MEDIA – March 2008

CUTS welcomes TRAI's move to phase out ADC levy
The Hindu, March 31, 2008

Telecom move to phase out ADC hailed
www.rediff.com, March 31, 2008

ADC Phase-out Will Benefit Telecom Consumers : CUTS
Thesynergyonline, March 31, 2008

CUTS backs TRAI on penalties for unwanted calls
The Economic Time, March 24, 2008

Unwanted calls: TRAI move hailed
The Hindu, March 24, 2008

International group supports Trai on penalties for unsolicited calls
Telecom Tiger, March 24, 2008

CUTS backs TRAI on spam calls penalties
Hindustan Times, March 24, 2008
 

Archives

CUTS welcomes TRAI's move to phase out ADC levy

The Hindu, March 31, 2008

CUTS International, a non government organisation, on Monday welcomed telecom regulator TRAI's decision to exempt private telecom operators from paying a fee called 'ADC' to state-run BSNL by April 1.

"This move, apart from benefiting consumers, will help in creating a level playing field for service operators," CUTS International Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta said.

The telecom regulator on March 27, had announced its decision to phase out the Access Deficit Charge, which was paid by private telecom service providers to compensate BSNL for offering services in rural areas at subsidised rates.

All major telecom players, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone Essar had also welcomed the move.

CUTS also suggested to make it mandatory for all operators to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the license area including remote areas.

"Since, a license is issued for the whole circle/zone, it is justified to ask the telecom operators to ensure full coverage," CUTS said.

When the networks of all operators could be available in remote areas, it provides a choice to consumers to select a service provider. At the same time, operators would also find it profitable to increase their subscriber base in rural areas, Mehta added.

The ADC has two parts. The first is 0.75 per cent of Adjusted Gross Revenue that service providers pay to BSNL and the second, rupee 1 per minute on international incoming calls paid to the PSU by international long distance service providers. Besides, it has also announced the reduction of ADC on international calls to 50 paise from rupee 1 at present.

This news item can also be viewed at:

http://www.hindu.com/
http://www.zeenews.com/
 

Telecom move to phase out ADC hailed

www.rediff.com, March 31, 2008

CUTS International, a non government organisation, welcomed on Monday telecom regulator Trai's decision to exempt private telecom operators from paying a fee called ADC to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited by April 1.

"This move, apart from benefiting consumers, will help in creating a level playing field for service operators," CUTS International Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta said.

The telecom regulator on March 27, announced its decision to phase out the Access Deficit Charge, which was paid by private telecom service providers to compensate BSNL for offering services in rural areas at subsidised rates.

All major telecom players, Bharti Airtel [Get Quote], Tata Teleservices [Get Quote] and Vodafone Essar had also welcomed the move.

CUTS also suggested to make it mandatory for all operators to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the license area, including remote areas.

"Since, a license is issued for the whole circle/zone, it is justified to ask the telecom operators to ensure full coverage," CUTS said.

When the networks of all operators could be available in remote areas, it provides a choice to consumers to select a service provider. At the same time, operators would also find it profitable to increase their subscriber base in rural areas, Mehta added.

The ADC has two parts. The first is 0.75 per cent of adjusted gross revenue that service providers pay to BSNL and the second, rupee 1 per minute on international incoming calls paid to the PSU by international long distance service providers.

Besides, it has also announced the reduction of ADC on international calls to 50 paise from rupee 1 at present.

This news item can also be viewed at: http://in.rediff.com/
 

ADC Phase-out Will Benefit Telecom Consumers : CUTS

Thesynergyonline, March 31, 2008

CUTS International has backed TRAI’s recommendation on the phasing out of Access Deficit Charges (ADC) issue In a press release CUTS Secretary General, Pradeep S Mehta, said that this move, apart from benefiting consumers, will help in creating a level playing field for service operators.

“In any event, it was incongruous and a tax on consumers as a double whammy i.e the existence of both ADC and USO tax. We agree with the TRAI’s view that in the light of high growth in the subscriber base and reasonable degree of competition among the private as well publicly owned operators, ADC should be phased out and merged with Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).” said Mehta.

CUTS has observed that as a result of support through ADC, BSNL was able to provide more access to telecom services in rural areas. But at the same time, the quality of service provided by BSNL was reported to be very poor. Consumers have suffered very much from the abuses resulting from the monopoly power exercised by BSNL.

Addressing the TRAI’s concern on extending service to rural areas, it has suggested to the authority to make it mandatory for all operators to ensure 100% coverage of the license area including remote areas. Since, a licence is issued for the whole circle/zone, it is justified to ask them to ensure full coverage. It will enhance the teledensity, which is currently at an abysmal level of 7 percent in rural areas. The USO fund is also available for subsidizing high cost-low returns investments.

“When the networks of all operators are available in remote areas, it will provide a choice to consumer to select a service provider. At the same time, operators will also find it profitable to increase their subscriber base in rural areas to exploit the market and recover the capital cost. As a result of competition, the tariff will come down and benefit the consumers in rural areas.” Mehta added.

CUTS has also pointed out that the gains resulting from abolition of ADC should be shared with consumers justly. Otherwise, CUTS will not hesitate in taking legal action.

This news item can also be viewed at: http://www.thesynergyonline.com/breakingnews.htm 
 

CUTS backs TRAI on penalties for unwanted calls

The Economic Time, March 24, 2008

NEW DELHI: CUTS International, a leading economic policy research and advocacy group, has strongly supported Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendation to penalise mobile operators for unwanted calls to subscribers.

"In spite of registering for 'do not call' facility, consumers continue to be harassed by tele-marketers," CUTS Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta said in a statement.

A snap survey done by CUTS in New Delhi and Jaipur, showed that over half the mobile customers who have registered for 'do not call' continue are bombarded by cheap loan offers, life insurance, credit cards from companies. This is other than text messages of tele-marketers, which too are covered under the ban, he said.

"The claim made by operators that they are not responsible for such calls is hogwash, because the subscriber data is sold by them to telemarketers and service providers."

The callers are not even properly trained by the telemarketers to ask for permission to speak, he said.

In a letter to TRAI, CUTS has demanded that accounts of mobile operators be examined for income on sale of subscriber data, he said.

"The only issue raised by the operators which can be supported by consumer groups is that telemarketers need to be disciplined, but that does not mean that operators have no liability," Mehta said, adding that both are jointly responsible and TRAI should take some drastic measures including levying punitive damages on the operators.

This news item can also be viewed at: URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
 

Unwanted calls: TRAI move hailed

The Hindu, March 24, 2008

“Mobile firms making money by selling data of subscribers” An invasion into right to privacy, says NGO

NEW DELHI: Economic policy research and advocacy group CUTS International has strongly supported the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to penalise mobile operators for unwanted calls to consumers.

In a release here, CUTS secretary-general Pradeep S. Mehta said that even after registering for the ‘Do not call’ facility consumers were harassed by telemarketers.

A snap survey done by CUTS in New Delhi and Jaipur showed that over half the mobile customers, who had registered for the facility, continued to be bombarded by cheap loan offers, life insurance, credit cards from various national and international companies. This was other than SMS text messages of telemarketers, which too were covered under the ban.

All mobile companies sell the data of their subscribers to telemarketers/service providers and thus make extra money.

In a letter to TRAI, CUTS had demanded that the accounts of mobile operators be examined for income on sale of subscriber data, which was against all norms and invaded the right to privacy.

“The claim made by operators that they are not responsible for such calls is hogwash,” said Mr. Mehta.

“The TRAI should take some drastic measures, including levying of punitive damages on the operators,” Mr. Mehta said.

This news item can also be viewed at: http://www.hindu.com/
 

International group supports Trai on penalties for unsolicited calls

Telecom Tiger, March 24, 2008

Trai has received support from CUTS International, a leading economic policy research and advocacy group, on its decision to impose heavy fines to operators on unsolicited calls made by tele-marketers.

CUTS Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta said, "In spite of registering for ''do not call' facility, consumers continue to be harassed by tele-marketers."

CUTS claims that its survey indicates that over half the mobile subscribers who have registered for the ‘Do Not Call Registry’ continue to receive calls from tele-marketers.

"The claim made by operators that they are not responsible for such calls is hogwash, because the subscriber data is sold by them to telemarketers and service providers," says CUTS.

This news item can also be viewed at:
http://www.telecomtiger.com/
http://finance.indiainfo.com/
 

CUTS backs TRAI on spam calls penalties

Hindustan Times, March 24, 2008

New Delhi: CUTS International, a leading economic policy research and advocacy group, has strongly supported Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendation to penalize mobile operators for unwanted calls to subscribers. “In spite of registering for ‘do not call’ facility, consumers continue to be harassed by tele-marketers,” CUTS Secretary General Pradeep S Mehta said.