GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2149
TO BE ANSWERED ON 5TH JANUARY 2018
FLOOR PRICES FOR VOICE AND DATA SERVICES
2149. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) Whether Government is aware that some of the telcos, including BSNL, have asked TRAI to consider setting floor prices for voice and data services;
(b) Whether Government has conducted a study to examine the repercussions of setting up floor prices for voice and data and its impact on the progress of Digital India;
(c) If so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) to (c)In a meeting of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in India with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), held on 15.06.2017, among various issues related to financial health of the telecom service sector, one of the issues raised was fixation of floor price for voice and data service, which was decided to be further deliberated upon. In a further meeting of CEOs and TSPs with TRAI on 21.07.2017, the TSPs were generally in agreement that the existing policy of forbearance in telecom tariff should continue for the present. It was an agreed decision during the meeting that fixing of floor prices is not a workable idea to be pursued.
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