"We are approaching the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal in a day or two. The preparation for this will be ready then. While the amount of financial loss is still being worked upon, the amount is not important to us. It is a matter of principle. If ADC is available to BSNL, the same principle should be applied to us," R S P Sinha, CMD of MTNL.
The company had earlier said that it would "protest" the new regime. "ADC was available to MTNL since last two years and TRAI was convinced about this. On what basis have we been denied of this compensation," Sinha said.
Fixed operators like MTNL used to receive ADC on incoming long distance calls terminating on their network. In the new regime they would not receive ADC and stand to lose revenue.
Industry sources say MTNL's loss could be about Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) a year due to the new ADC regime. Meanwhile, TRAI sources said they had done their calculations before bringing out the new ADC regime and nobody stood to lose according to those calculations.
"We are very clear on our calculations. Every operator has the right to follow the course of natural justice", sources in the regulator said. Cellular operators have said that they would not go against the tribunal order.