Indian telecom industry is in transition. Consequently, there is lot of confusion among consumers regarding tariff structures, call durations and interconnect issues. Consumers are flooded with new tariff offers and services from telecom companies. This has added to their confusion. The article comprehends the above issues from Regulators, Service providers, and Consumers' point of view.

Couple of weeks ago, starting May 2003, Indian telecom consumers were not allowed to make calls from Public Call Office (PCO) and denied connectivity from Coin Collection Booths (CCB) to cellular subscribers. The volume of free calls from fixed lines was lessened and monthly rentals were hiked. The local call duration was reduced from 180-second pulse (3 minutes) to 120-second pulse (2 minutes). Consumers were not clear about pulse duration of calls from Fixed line to Cellular, Fixed line to WLL (M), Fixed line to Fixed line and vice versa. Consumers were also flooded with advertisements in the media about the tariff structures of different service providers. A consumer was not sure whether his service provider was having interconnection with networks of all the NLD and ILD operators and was offering the best long distance tariffs in the industry to him. He was unable to take a decision whether he should opt for CDMA or GSM technology for his mobile communication.

The Indian Telecom Industry is undergoing a metamorphosis and consumers are confused about the recent changes that have taken place. This confusion is because of the introduction of new Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) Regulation issued by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on January 24 20031. Initially, IUC was planned to be introduced from April 1, 2003. However, due to technical snags it was delayed for a month.

Indian telecom industry, consumers, tariff structures, call durations, interconnect issues, telecom companies, Regulators, Service providers, Indian telecom consumers, Public Call Office (PCO), Coin Collection Booths (CCB), Fixed line, interconnection with networks, CDMA or GSM technology, mobile communication, metamorphosis, Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), technical snags.