TRAI on June 6 invited industry views on whether financial disincentives must be slapped on telcos if allocated telecommunications identifier (TI) resources remained unused beyond a certain timeframe.
The Indian telecom regulator refuted several media reports claiming it plans to charge customers for holding multiple SIMs or numbering resources. Terming such claims as “completely false and baseless,” TRAI stated that these reports only serve to mislead the public.
“….some media houses have reported Trai has proposed introducing fees for mobile and landline numbers with an aim to ensure efficient allocation of finite resources. The speculation that Trai intends to impose charges on customers for holding multiple SIMs/numbering resources is unequivocally false,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said on June 14.
The regulator issued this clarification on its recent discussion paper on “‘Revision of National Numbering Plan’ which issued on June 6, 2024
TRAI on June 6 invited industry views on whether financial disincentives must be slapped on telcos if allocated telecommunications identifier (TI) resources remained unused beyond a certain timeframe.
The TIs are a series of digits, characters and symbols, or a combination of these, used to identify a unique user of landline and mobile services.
The regulator said that TIs will play a pivotal role in ensuring efficient communications and network management with the advent of 5G networks.
In its paper, TRAI noted that Indian telcos often capitalise on market demand by offering vanity or “highly coveted” numbers at premium rates and resort to conducting auctions to maximise revenues from such number allocations.
The regulator had further said that such practices lead to inefficient utilisation of numbering resources and result in hoarding of numbering resources. “Hence, it may be prudent to consider charging TSPs with a nominal fee against numbering resource allocated,” it said in the paper.
Telcos, though, in response to the regulator’s proposals have cautioned that any move to start collecting fees on sale of numbers would result in the additional costs being passed on to consumers.
The regulator on June 14 said it has consistently advocated minimum regulatory intervention and promoted forbearance and self-regulation of market forces.