'Telecom tariffs likely to dip further'

This is the third time the ADC has been reduced and whenever it is reduced, the operators bring down the tariff.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Pradeep Baijal said on Saturday that telecom tariffs are likely to reduce further, but declined to guess on any specific figure.

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This is the third time the Access Deficit Charge (ADC) has been reduced and whenever it is reduced, the operators bring down the tariff, Baijal told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in Kochi.

"We do not control tariff. I cannot predict by how much the tariffs are likely to come down," he said.

The operators have reduced tariff before the ADC reduction this time, he said.

The Rural-Urban digital divide was increasing, which was "disturbing," he said.

Though there was a huge mobile telephony market in the rural areas, the mobile operators were going there only gradually, he said.

BSNL has been doing well in urban areas as there is competition. In rural areas there is no competition, he added.