Taking a stand in contrast to GSM industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Bharti Airtel on Friday asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to liberalise the allocation of numbers to operators.
As per existing guidelines, a new operator is allocated 10 lakh numbers per circle and thereafter, more are allotted based on subscriber additions.
There is a critical need to reconsider the criteria for allocation of new number series, the country's biggest mobile operator by subscribers said.
In a letter to DoT Secretary MF Farooqui, Airtel said, "The present policy is extremely stringent, resulting in inordinate delays, seriously limiting the customers and operators ability to seek or add new customers."
The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents GSM players, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular , had recently written to DoT to allocate only 10 lakh numbers per circle to Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL), in accordance with current guidelines.
As per media reports, Reliance Jio Infocomm had asked for 4 crore numbers to launch 4G operations in the country.
RJIL holds pan-India spectrum for this service in 22 circles.
COAI had said the existing guidelines should apply to all service providers and should be applicable to new operators.
As per existing guidelines, a new operator is allocated 10 lakh numbers per circle and thereafter, more are allotted based on subscriber additions.
There is a critical need to reconsider the criteria for allocation of new number series, the country's biggest mobile operator by subscribers said.
In a letter to DoT Secretary MF Farooqui, Airtel said, "The present policy is extremely stringent, resulting in inordinate delays, seriously limiting the customers and operators ability to seek or add new customers."
The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents GSM players, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular , had recently written to DoT to allocate only 10 lakh numbers per circle to Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL), in accordance with current guidelines.
As per media reports, Reliance Jio Infocomm had asked for 4 crore numbers to launch 4G operations in the country.
RJIL holds pan-India spectrum for this service in 22 circles.
COAI had said the existing guidelines should apply to all service providers and should be applicable to new operators.
No comments:
Post a Comment