Trai issues interconnect rules, fixes stiff fine for violation

KOLKATA: The telecom regulator has directed phone companies to ink interconnect pacts on a nondiscriminatory basis within 30 days of receiving a request from any licensed carrier, and fixed a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh a day per circle for those violating the new rules around network connectivity.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday issued the Telecommunication Interconnection Regulations, 2018, that are effective from February 1.

It lay down the ground rules for telcos to enter into initial interconnect pacts, provision points of interconnection (POIs) needed to complete calls, undertake augmentation of such points and the associated charges. It has termed interconnection the “lifeline of telecommunication services”.


Regulations around network connectivity between two telcos, which also underline the process of disconnecting POIs besides the levy of penalties for noncompliance, were at the heart of an ugly spat between the Big 3 incumbent carriers — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular — and Reliance Jio Infocomm in the run-up to the latter’s launch of 4G services in September 2016. Trai had upheld Jio’s complaint that the three incumbents had not released adequate POIs to the new entrant, and recommended that the telecom department (DoT) impose hefty penalties of Rs 3,050 crore cumulatively on the older telcos for flouting rules.

Under the new rules, a telco receiving an interconnection request has to offer a draft interconnect pact within five days to the requestor, who, in turn, can submit suggestions/objections in the next five days. Currently, there is no explicit timeline for inking of interconnect agreements.

Telcos flouting Trai’s interconnection regulations would “be liable to pay an amount, by way of financial disincentive”, capped at “Rs 1lakh per day per licensed service area,” the regulator said. A telco seeking POIs will be liable to furnish a six-month bank guarantee from the date of initial interconnection for the total number of ports sought, if such a demand is made by the telco offering interconnection, the regulator said.

The regulator, however, said interconnection levies such as set-up charges and infrastructure charges “may be mutually negotiated” between service providers as long as they are “reasonable, transparent and non-discriminatory”. But Trai has mandated a detailed process for disconnection of POIs, directing a telco to initially issue a show cause notice of 15 working days citing reasons for the same.