The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has slashed interconnection charges proposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) up to 45 percent to facilitate new Long Distance International (LDI) and Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licensees. The PTA took the decision after extensive deliberations and interaction with new operators to resolve this critical issue which would facilitate them in various interconnection arrangements including origination, termination, transit, leased line, transmission capacity and carrier pre-selection services.
PTA chairman Major General Shehzada Alam Malik (Retd) announced this decision while presiding over a meeting of PTCL representatives, Special Communication Organisation (SCO), National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) and LDI operators here on Monday.
The PTCL in the initial Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) submitted to the PTA had proposed origination/termination charges for metropolitan area at Rs0.65, Rs0.58 and Rs0.41 per minute for peak, off peak 1, and off peak timings, respectively, which have now been reduced by the PTA to Rs0.50, Rs0.40 and Rs0.30.
Similarly, for national termination of more than 160 kilometres, charges proposed by the PTCL were Rs2.39 Rs1.65 and Rs0.94 per minute for peak, off peak 1, and off peak timings, respectively, which have been slashed by the PTA to Rs1.35, Rs1.03 and Rs0.52.
Moreover, the PTA has reduced transmission circuit rates from Rs85,500 to Rs60,000 and one-off charge for carrier pre-selection facility from Rs41,0000 to Rs30,0000 to encourage new operators to provide their customers with the option of carrier pre-selection at affordable prices.
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