The Madras High Court on Thursday reserved its judgement on two individual writ appeals preferred by Tata Communications and Bharti Airtel challenging a single judge’s order confirming certain regulations framed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) with the aim of reducing the cost of Internet and voice calls including ISD calls.
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar deferred their verdict, without mentioning a date, after completion of marathon arguments advanced by a battery of senior counsel representing the petitioners as well as the respondents in the two cases which were argued for 21 days in the last five months.
The appeals had been preferred against a common order passed by Justice S. Manikumar on November 11 last year dismissing the writ petitions preferred by the two companies against International Telecommunication Access to Essential Facilities at Cable Landing Stations (Amendment) Regulations framed on June 7, 2007.
The petitions had also challenged similar regulations framed on October 19, 2012 and the International Telecommunication Cable Landing Stations Access Facilitation Charges and Co-allocation Charges Regulations of 2012 framed on December 21, 2012 on the ground that TRAI lacks the legislative competence to frame them.
The companies had also claimed that the regulations under challenge had restricted their Constitutional right to carry on business.
However, the single judge had dismissed their writ petitions after accepting the submissions made Senior Counsel P. Wilson, representing TRAI, that the statutory body was competent to frame those regulations.
“The cable landing station is considered to be a bottleneck facility and hence is a subject matter of regulation so that over a period of time there are enough players with level playing field that the bottleneck facility ceases to be one and the customers get the broadband facility at affordable prices.
“The authority under the TRAI Act is required to insure that the interests of various service providers as well as that of the consumers are protected and that there is an orderly growth of the telecom sector. The present regulations aim towards ensuring that the cable landing station is a place where equal access is granted and the charges that are charged by the OCLS for such purpose are cost-based charges.
“This would ensure introduction of many players into the sector leading to affordable prices for the consumer. It will ensure an orderly growth of the sector. Thus the regulations that have been framed by the authority are completely in conformity with provisions of the TRAI Act,” Mr. Justice Manikumar had observed.
