Union Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja has urged telecom operators to further reduce mobile phone tariffs by lowering the termination charge, arguing that this would help in the growth of the telecom sector.
Talking to journalists after meeting senior executives of major telecom companies here on Tuesday, he said: “I have requested all operators to reduce the termination charge by 2010, and this will help to lower the tariffs further. Local call charges can come down to as low as 10 paise a minute and STD charges to just 25 paise, if this happens.” The termination charge is the levy paid by one operator to another on whose network the call ends.
Mr. Raja said operators were also asked to make optimum use of the Universal Service Obligation Fund to build telecom infrastructure in rural areas. The Centre was further simplifying the rules for the operators to get money from the Fund to boost rural telephony. The Fund has more than Rs.16,000 crore collected from all operators.
“Increasing rural tele-density is our top priority. All operators must go to rural India and set up infrastructure there,” he said. The government has targeted 1 crore broadband subscribers in rural areas in the next two years.
