Roaming charges to be abolished from next year: Sibal
Union Minister Kapil Sibal has said that mobile phones users will not need to pay roaming charges from next year. Earlier this year the government had approved the National Telecom Policy 2012, which envisages abolishing roaming charges and inter-circle mobile number portability. The government, however, then did not reveal the time-frame when the guidelines of the NTP 2012 will be implemented.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of the curtain raiser event of India Internet Governance Conference, Sibal said, “From next year. Our secretary has told you that it will be free from next year.”
It’s notable the telecom operators have significantly slashed roaming charges over the years, mainly due to growing competition in the market. However, it is believed that abolishing roaming would mean extra pressure on the telecom operators, which may be compelled to increase tariffs to make up for the revenue loss.
In the meanwhile, Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar has revealed that the Department of Telecom (DoT) is readying the Inviting Applications (NIA) for spectrum auction after which it will work on unified licence (UL) guidelines – also a part of the NTP 2012. Find out more about the NTP 2012 here.
“We are first going to attend to all issues linked to auction. The moment NIA is issued this week, we will focus on UL. After details of full UL is worked out, the modalities for free roaming will follow,” he said. NIA is slated to be issued on September 28.
Source: Hindustan Times
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