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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Biddle who wrote (32967)	2/28/2003 5:24:42 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196641

CMs seek PM's help for alternative tariff package for WLL PTI[ SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2002 10:16:50 AM ] economictimes.indiatimes.com NEW DELHI: Five Chief Ministers including those from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have sought Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's help to ensure that no minimum rental was fixed for limited mobility service offered by basic operators. Seeking Prime Minister's intervention for formulation of alternate tariff packages for the services, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh in separate letters to Vajpayee said a minimum floor rental and absence of alternate tariff packages would rseverly restrict competition and artificially increase the cost of communications within the country. "I request you to kindly use your good offices to ensure that no minimum rent is prescribed for WLL services and only maximum limits are fixed by the TRAI. Further I request that freedom to market alternative packages should be given to telecom service providers," N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, said in a letter recently. In another letter, Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna pointed out that the tariffs fixed for the services have given no choice to the subscriber to select the service provider since all of them have to charge the same tariff with no permission of any flexibility of alternate package. Comparing the monthly rentals of fixed line services and WLL services, Krishna said, "If the WLL services cost more than the fixed line services due to the rates fixed by the regulator, how can the service provider increase the penetration level of the service amongst different categories of the subscribers?" The Karnataka Chief Minister said the regulator should only fix the upper limit of tariff and rental, and the service providers should be given flexibility to charge different subscribers giving freedom of choice to subscriber. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh said it was essential that regulator should not fix any minimum amount of monthly rent and should leave the field open for competition with only condition that it would monitor role of incumbant dominant player and see that predatory pricing policy was not practised by any operator. Stating that the choice to consumer could be exercised only if he was able to compare different tariffs, monthly rentals and packages offered by various service providers, "The regulator needs to review the tariff policy of WLL mobility service and remove irritants," Singh said. Drawing attention to the fact that the regulator had fixed the minimum rent of Rs 450 per month, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said, "This is totally against the principle of competition and has not been practised by any other regulator." Chattisgarh CM Ajit Jogi said, "By fixing a monthly minimum rent, the regulatory authority has also denied the consumers, benefits of lower prices that could have been passed on by the service providers due to declining costs of technology. "I have separately brought this to the notice of (Minister for Communications and Information Technology) Pramod Mahajan and would also request your intervention with the regulator for a review of its stand," Jogi said in a letter addressed to the PM.