Niti CEO Amitabh suggests TRAI to set floor price for Phone Calls, Data
By MYBRANDBOOK
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has supported fixing minimum rates for mobile calls and data. He has said that there is no other option due to heavy debt of the telecom sector and unsustainable fall in prices. At present, telecom companies are free to decide on call and data rates but due to stiff competition they have sought regulatory intervention.
Mobile subscribers get access to 4G data at a price as low as Rs 3.5 per GB but if the floor price is fixed as demanded by telecom operators, the mobile internet prices will rise 5-10 times from the current level. Vodafone Idea has proposed that the minimum price of data should be fixed at Rs 35 per GB, Bharti Airtel has proposed minimum price of Rs 30 per GB for low data users and Reliance Jio wants it to be priced gradually to Rs 20 per GB.
Kant’s stand comes days after Niti Aayog showed discomfort in its official response submitted to telecom regulator TRAI on fixing floor price for phone calls and data prices to bail out telecom companies.
On March 4th Kant said in his letter to TRAI, “We would like to strongly emphasise that floor prices are the need of the hour to enable continuation of a multiplicity of firms that is critical for healthy competition. Given the heavy debt burden being faced by the sector and the recent fall in prices to unsustainable levels, there is no option available but to set floor prices.”
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is holding consultation with interested parties over fixing a minimum price for call and data services following demand from the industry.
However, Kant said review of the floor price may be done once the sector fully revives. According to a submission by Vodafone Idea, it will take three years for the company to restore its revenue levels.
The cheapest data rate of Rs 3.5 per GB is offered in a plan priced at Rs 599 with 84 days validity that offers up to 2GB data per day at 4G speed. The same plan will cost Rs 3,360-5,880 if the regulator accepts proposal from telecom operators to price the data in the range of Rs 20-35 per GB.
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