Indian court allows limited mobility phone services

Monday, 11 August 2003, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: An Indian telecom court ruled Friday that fixed-line phone operators are qualified to provide limited mobility services, ending a long-drawn and fierce legal battle in the domestic telecom sector. The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) dismissed the petition by cellular operators challenging the decision of the government to allow WLL services, said Ramji Srinivasan, lawyer for fixed-line service providers. The cellular industry has been battling fixed-line phone firms for over two years over the introduction of cheaper limited radius mobile services, saying the latter's operations were not based on "equitable" terms. Limited mobility phone, or Wireless in Local Loop (WLL), service providers use cheaper code division multiple access (CDMA) technology for offering mobile services within city limits. Other cellular operators offering unlimited mobility work on the rival global system for mobile communications (GSM) platform. Unlike cellular services on the GSM platform that can be used by customers when travelling, WLL services on the CDMA platform are limited to a certain region, usually within the city area. The row over WLL services hot up after the launch of limited mobility phone operations by India's two biggest corporate entities - Reliance Industries and the Tata Group. Both Reliance and Tata offer sharply lower charges for their WLL operations to garner a larger slice of the country's ballooning mobile phone population. Cellular firms, which have only lately started seeing subscriptions take off after years of poor growth, are worried that lower tariffs could lead to customers jumping ship. India's cellular market, one of the fastest growing in the world, is witnessing a fierce tariff war after the launch of WLL services at sharply lower rates.
Source: IANS
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