Telcos urge DoT to implement Trai's definition for international traffic

Telecom operators have urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to adopt the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) definition of international traffic, a move that could potentially increase revenue from short messages (SMS) for telecom companies by over Rs 400 crore annually,

In a letter dated January 8 to telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) requested the DoT to accept Trai’s recommendations and update the existing unified licence agreement. The proposed amendments would align the definition of international and domestic traffic with the regulator’s guidelines, the news report said.

“We request the DoT to kindly accept the Trai recommendations and accordingly incorporate the definition of international traffic and domestic traffic vide suitable amendments in the existing unified license agreement as well as in the rules/terms and conditions associated with the various upcoming authorisations,” COAI stated in the letter, as mentioned in the news report.

Trai’s definition of international traffic

Last month, Trai recommended a precise definition for international traffic, classifying SMS messages that either originate or terminate on any electronic device, computer server, or application located outside India as international traffic.