Govt plans to regulate SMS traffic snarls

New Delhi, June 13 (UNI) The government plans to regulate the SMS traffic snarls suffered by mobile operators due to increased use of SMS for advertisements.

In a consultation paper, released to all stakeholders, the government has pointed towards the possibilist of some networks being burdened with a large proportion of incoming SMS traffic, as the transmission of SMS is at present based on mutual agreement with most operators adopting 'Bill and Keep Approach'.

''Since Short Message Service (SMS) is one of the most popular means of communication, it has become a major source of revenue for mobile service operators,'' the paper says.

It observes that the SMS traffic imbalance across operators is increasing with SMS being increasingly used as an advertising medium and operators offering different bundled tarrif plans.

''With this imbalance, there is a possibility that some networks are burdened with a large proportion of incoming SMS traffic. Thus, there seems to be a need for regulatory intervention to ensure that no operator assumes an unnecessary burden,'' the paper says.

It discusses the need for regulatory intervention for interconnect charges, especially for SMS carriage, and termination charges.

The paper has also sought views on the pricing mechanism to be used for SMS activities such as tele-voting, lottery and online bidding.

All stakeholders are requested to send their written comments by June 30.

The paper has been placed on the TRAI's website (www.trai.gov.in), where the gist of the comments received will also be posted.

UNI YT DKS KN1802