IUC full form or meaning in telecom is Interconnect Usage Charge.
When a customer of a mobile operator calls a customer of another mobile operator, the outgoing operator has to pay a charge to the incoming operator, which is called the interconnect usage charge.
Such calls which are made on other networks are called off-net calls.
The IUC or Interconnect usage charge is fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
For example, assuming you are using a SIM of Jio, and you call any of your relatives who are using SIM for Airtel, then your operator Jio, has to pay a certain charge per minute, determined by the Telecom Regulatory Authority.
IUC charge in India
In India, the interconnect usage charge, by TRAI, is kept at six paise per minute, meaning the outgoing operator has to pay 6 paise for every minute to the incoming operator.
However, TRAI has laid the deadline of January 2021 to eliminate the interconnect user charge.
The elimination of interconnect usage charges will mean that no operator will have to pay the outgoing call to other operators to whom incoming calls will be made.
Need for IUC in India
Whenever we make a call, it uses two networks, one network using which we make the call, which is called outgoing network, and the other, using which we receive the call, which is done by the incoming network. ,
Then both networks have to work during any call, that’s why TRAI made a rule that outgoing operators have to pay some money on the incoming operator so that the incoming operator is not harmed.
TRAI made this rule thinking that this will maintain cohesion among all mobile operators, and no operator will refuse to take more and more incoming calls.
TRAI had also set a time limit, so that when all the mobile operators have almost equal customers, then this interconnect user charges can be eliminated because all the operators will be paying an almost equal amount to each other.
But this did not happen and after Jio came in the market in 2016, Jio’s customers suddenly increased so much that Jio started to suffer a lot due to interconnect user charges because Jio itself started the most outgoing calls to other networks.
That is why Jio changed all its plans in October 2019 and started charging users the interconnect user charges.
Jio says about IUC charge that as soon as TRAI terminates IUC, it will also stop charging interconnect user charge from its users.
In the name of interconnect usage charges, all the mobile operators made their plans expensive and even among them, Jio’s plans became more expensive than before.
In today’s time, Jio is repeatedly demanding from TRAI that the interconnect user charge be abolished while the rest of the operators are demanding to continue it so that it can withstand competition in the market and continue its operation.
other full forms of IUC
IUC- Independent user centre- in governmental term
IUC- International University college- in universities
Similar full forms-
USB full form
CPU full form
