TRAI pushes calling cards, tries to make ISD cheaper

New Delhi: The STD and ISD tariff could come down as telecom regulator on Thursday kick started the process to make calling cards more attractive. Calling cards will give consumers an option to buy talk time directly from long distance operators, which will make STD and ISD calls cheaper.

Trai felt that calling card business could not pick up in India as telecom operators were demanding high access charges to connect to long distance operators.

“By keeping high access charges, some of the telecom service providers are deliberately trying to kill the calling card business prematurely as it runs counter to their business interest,” said Trai.

Trai said that ISD calls going out of the country are not increasing at the same rate as incoming calls. It noted that the ratio of incoming calls to outgoing calls has increased from three times to 16 times over the last seven years.

“It can be agreed that this high margin of around '4 per minute, which an access provider (telecom operator) earns on ISD calls is the main reason why some of the integrated telecom service providers are not in favour of introducing competition in the long distance sector through introduction of calling cards,” said Trai.

The telecom regulator has sought views whether the charge to be provided to telecom service provi-ders for connecting to long distance calls should be fixed by the regulator for both National Long Dist-ance Operator (NLDO) (for STD) and International Long Distance Operator (ILDO) (for ISD).