The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has asked the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) to speed up the process of fixing the floor price for data services. The COAI has written a letter to the authority seeking an urgent open house discussion on the matter.
The telecom operators are facing financial challenges due to the low ARPU and high AGR dues. COAI believes that floor pricing will help telecom service providers to improve the ARPU.
COAI said in a letter to TRAI, “Given the financial pressure on the sector and the fact that ARPU (average revenue per user) and tariffs of the Indian telecom sector are the lowest in the world, floor pricing is imperative to ensure that the sector is sustainable, and is in a position to bear the deferred spectrum and AGR dues while continuing to invest in world-class networks and services.”
TRAI had released a consultation paper on the tariff issues of telecom services in December 2019, but the discussion on the matter got delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The COAI has urged TRAI to conduct the open house discussion through the online process.
COAI said, “While we acknowledge that the recent situation on account of COVID-19 might have caused some constraints, however, the Authority has started conducting the OHD (open house discussion) through online process on various other topics. Accordingly, we request the Authority to kindly hold an OHD on this issue at the earliest.”
