In order to boost competition in the international private leased circuit segment, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a draft regulation mandating open access to landing facilities at cable landing stations (CLSs). It has also stated that CLS owners must publish a “Cable Landing Station-Reference Interconnect Order (CLS-RIO)”, containing the terms and conditions for access facilitation including eligibility, time-frame and charges.

The draft regulation, if cleared, is slated to eliminate a major bottleneck to growth in the international long distance (ILD) segment. According to TRAI, the regulation will not only reduce the cost of international bandwidth but also ensure its availability in a timely and fair manner to ILD operators (ILDOs) and internet service providers (ISPs). It will put an end to the landing station disputes earlier witnessed between Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) and Reliance Communications-owned Flag Telecom.

Currently, all the submarine CLSs in India are operated and managed by a handful of ILDOs such as Bharti Airtel and VSNL. For submarine cables built by consortiums, typically the consortium member in each country where the cable lands, manages the landing station.Hence, it is possible for a cable system owner with significant market power to delay the provision of resources, through higher charges or any other barriers, to another player.

Given this, TRAI has set out to ensure that new operators have access to submarine cable capacity in the same way as the consortium members do.

To this end, it has released a consultation paper titled, “Access to Essential Facilities (including landing facilities for submarine cables) at Cable Landing Stations”, to discuss the relevant aspects of the issue, namely, co-location, including access facilitation, operation and maintenance, and co-location charges, timeframe and other terms and conditions of access at CLSs.

The key features of the proposed terms and conditions are:

  • The owner of the CLS (OCLS) must provide, within a reasonable time-frame, access to the building and co-location space, or provide the facility for virtual co-location of equipment necessary for connection in the CLSs.
  • The OCLSs should also provide interconnection between co-location areas and to the optical distribution frame/ digital distribution frame at any technically feasible point.
  • The OCLSs must enable licensees to access backhaul circuits of all types.
  • The charges for access facilitation, co-location and operation and maintenance are normally cost oriented.The OCLS should get the regulator’s approval prior to charging the same.
  • The access facilitation lead time should neither be discriminatory nor reflect the lead time taken by the OCLS to provide access for its own equipment.

    Moreover, TRAI has noted that ISPs are also eligible for setting up submarine CLSs for international gateways for internet in order to carry internet traffic. Consequently, in the future, it is quite possible that ISPs may set up submarine CLSs for international gateways for the internet.

    Key issues Several issues were raised during the consultation process. These included:

  • Should TRAI issue a regulation for mandating CLS-RIO to access essential facilities and co-location at the CLS?
  • Should the charges for co-location and access to the CLS for landing facilities be specified by TRAI or should these be left to commercial negotiations between an eligible Indian international telecommunication entity (ITE) and the OCLS?
  • Should there be any terms and conditions regarding the minimum commitment period for co-location service at the CLS?
  • Should the leasing of backhaul for the interim period by the owner of the CLS to an eligible Indian ITE be mandated or be left for mutual negotiations between service providers?
  • Should the OCLS be mandated to provide the costing elements and methodology considered when arriving at the cost for access facilitation for international submarine cable capacity, CLS access and co-location to the ITE?
  • What should be the terms and conditions for provision of landing facilities at the CLS?
  • Should the proposed regulations be mandated for the CLS set up by an ISP for international gateway for internet?
  • Is there any need for facilitation by TRAI if the owner of the CLS and the eligible ITE fail to enter into an agreement?
  • What are the other non-price discriminatory practices of the owner of the CLS that are required to be addressed through proposed regulations?

    TRAI has invited stakeholders to give their comments and discuss the issue. All in all, considerable movement can be expected in the international bandwidth segment in the near future.