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News >> Technology >>
TRAI cuts international bandwidth prices by upto 70 pc
By agencies
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Friday, 11 March 2005, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI:The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today announced a major cut in the international bandwidth prices by upto 70 percent and as a result ISD tariffs may come down besides reduction in tariffs of Internet and broadband services.
According to TRAI, the ceiling tariff for International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) half-circuit in respect of E1, DS3 and STM-1 capacities are Rs 13 lakh, Rs 104 lakh and Rs 299 lakh a year respectively.
Operators would be free to offer tariffs that are lower than the ceiling tariff fixed by the Authority. International bandwidth is the medium of carriage of data and voice services across countries in the world. The main users of IPLC in India are Internet Service Providers, IT and IT-enabled service enterprises like Business Process Outsourcing Units and ILD operators.
By issuing a Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO), for the first time the Authority is regulating the tariff for International Bandwidth.
The ceiling tariffs prescribed by this order would come into effect from April 1, 2005.
The IPLC leased rentals or charges for using the services of the international leased circuits were found to be higher in India than in many countries owing to lack of effective competition in the market, TRAI said.
India had only three operators, as against 14 in Korea, 24 in France and 32 in USA. The Authority found that it was essential to make this key input available to various economic and social activities at a competitive price because the market forces were not effective.