Under pressure to reduce the carriage charge from the current 65 paise to retain Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited's STD traffic, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited on Monday expressed willingness to lower the charge, a move which will lead to lower STD call rates between Delhi and Mumbai to start with.
"Price points can always be negotiated .. there is always a possibility of negotiating outside with the MTNL.
Talks are going on in this regard," A K Sinha, CMD, BSNL said on the sidelines of a WiMax seminar.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India removed the floor rate for carriage charges (Rs 19 paise-Rs 1.10) and now there is only a ceiling rate of 65 paise above which the carriage charge can not be applied, informed Sinha.
Sinha, however, did not disclose to what extent BSNL will lower the price. MTNL is believed to be asking for a carriage charge for 40 paise.
Sinha indicated towards a variable carriage cost, saying, "Traffic in Delhi and Mumbai are different (lucrative) and other parts of the country are of different nature. Carriage charges can be variable. We can't only be carrying losing (unremunerative traffic covering nooks and corners of the country) traffic".
The PSU also claimed there is 'no dispute' with MTNL but said both the PSUs have formed a committee to look into their mutual areas of concern mainly relating to carriage of STD traffic.
"There is no dispute between us (BSNL and MTNL)... discussions have been going on and the issue will be resolved soon," Sinha said.
Sinha did not specifically point to the ongoing dispute between BSNL and MTNL over carrying STD traffic of MTNL.
BSNL has asked MTNL to pay about Rs 1,062 crore (Rs 10.62 billion) for 2005-06. However, MTNL has disputed this amount saying only certain part of this is undisputable. In fact, BSNL officials say MTNL had not paid anything over the last five years.
The said committee, which is looking into the case, has already met once and will meet again shortly.
"We have created a group which would look into the details of areas of concern between BSNL and MTNL," Sinha said, adding the concerned data would be exchanged within 3-4 days.
"MTNL should only send the traffic only through us as we have the required infrastructure, he said. Moreover, it is in the interest of the country that both the PSUs should work together," Sinha added.
MTNL has floated a tender inviting fresh carriage charges expected to be lower from private operators as well as BSNL. It also has bagged a STD licence recently.
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