Free Roaming postponed till Oct 2013

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Mobile phone users are likely to get free roaming facility across India from March 1. Sources in the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in line with the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, preparations were underway to waive roaming charges for mobile subscribers.

Once the roaming charges are waived, mobile users will be able to get incoming calls free of charge and outgoing calls at local rates while travelling anywhere in the country. The notification for the same could be issued soon, said reports.

In view of the forthcoming announcement, Aircel yesterday became the first telecom operator to announce seamless roaming on its network.

The NTP was approved by the Union Cabinet in May 2012.

Under the policy, the government had said that roaming within the country would be made free with the introduction of concept of “one nation, one rate.”

In most countries abroad, roaming within the country is free as a single licence is issued to telecom companies. But India is divided into 22 telecom sectors and a company is required to take a separate licence for each circle.


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[Xen]

Free Roaming Postponed Again!



The implementation of free roaming facility has been postponed till October by the Indian Government. This is the second time that the government has decided to postpone this move. Earlier, the move to abolish roaming charges was slated to take place by March this year.

Indian Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said the free roaming facility will be introduced by October 2013 in line with the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012. However, the minister did not specify the exact date.

Commenting on the postponement of free roaming facility, BusinessandMarket.net’s founder analyst Deepak Kumar said, "The re-postponement is a positive and shows that the Government is being more sensitive to the tough conditions prevailing in the telecom segment in India."

"While 3G data uptake has risen, the revenues have not gone up proportionately, hence telcos’ business dependence on voice remains high. The industry would be in a position to absorb the impact of free voice roaming only when the data revenue rises beyond a threshold point," Kumar added.

Under the NTP 2012, The Indian Government aims to abolish roaming charges that consumers have to pay while using the same mobile connection in telecom zones outside the home circle.

A number of telecom providers have been opposing the Government’s move to abolish roaming charges, claiming that it will cause surge in the operational costs, which could translate into tariff hikes.

Given the concerns of telecom operators, the telecom regulator (TRAI) has recently issued consultation paper on "Review of Tariff for National Roaming" and invited views from the industry stakeholders.


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National roaming to be free before October: Telecom Minister

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said the government will try to start national free roaming for customers before October.

"TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has floated a consultation paper on it (national free roaming)...so when TRAI's recommendations come, we will try to start free roaming before October," Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of National Internet Registry.

In December, TRAI had floated a pre-consultation paper seeking inputs from stakeholders on tariff for national roaming services.

It sought views of stakeholders on aspects of national roaming services like the cost components of call rates to be considered, the manner of cost recovery in case incoming calls are to be made free, the tariff for video calls and SMSes while roaming, the need for permitting special tariff vouchers for roaming customers, etc.

At present, telecom operators have to pay various charges such as termination charges and interconnection charges, for completing call of their customers on to other networks which get added to the final cost of the call for the customer.



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[Xen]

The Government on Thursday said that it will try to start national free roaming services for mobile consumers before October.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said: “Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has floated a consultation paper on it (national free roaming). So when TRAI 's recommendations come, we will try to start free roaming before October.”

As telecom operators have to pay various charges like termination charge, interconnect charge, for completing the call of their customers on to other networks, the burden has to be passed on to the end-consumers.

Free roaming services likely before October: Sibal - Business Line