After various rounds of consultation with operators on internet telephony services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out with its recommendations, Issues Related to Internet Telephony. The recommendations seek to remove all curbs on internet telephony in the country.
The policy at present allows only computer-to-computer calls within the country and not computer-to-phone calls, though it does allow domestic users to make international calls from their computer to a phone. However, TRAI’s recommendations will enable internet service providers (ISPs) to terminate internet telephony calls on phones, including mobiles.
Earlier, it was expected that universal access service providers would provide popular services like internet telephony and boost broadband penetration, but that did not happen. ISPs, on the other hand, were not permitted to provide unrestricted internet telephony services, though they had IP-based infrastructure. Such regulatory restrictions discouraged technological advancements and denied subscribers access to advanced value-added services, while encouraging grey market activities.
However, in light of rapid technological developments and liberal internet telephony regulations globally, TRAI felt that it was necessary to review the existing licensing conditions.
Its recent recommendations spell good news for users. According to telecom experts, users can expect a significant drop in long distance tariffs. In fact, national long distance (NLD) calls could come down to as little as Re 0.10-0.40.
The recommendations are also likely to go a long way in ensuring that rural India benefits by being able to make ultracheap calls from PCOs using this technology. Broadband growth is also expected to receive a fillip. Besides, TRAI hopes that opening up the internet telephony segment will help clamp down on the grey market, whereby companies have been offering such services illegally.
The following are the salient features of the internet telephony recommendations made by TRAI:
The recommendations have been welcomed by ISPs. Says a senior official of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), “Though there are challenges in the uptake of internet telephony since PC penetration in the country is low at 3.6 per cent, TRAI’s endeavour is forward-looking. ISPs can now look forward to new revenue channels.”
It will also translate into more business for NLD licence holders and act as a catalyst for them to extend their fibre networks beyond the metros and Tier I cities. WiMax, a wireless broadband access technology that is getting ready for launch in India, is also expected to gain from the move.
However, access providers are none too happy with the recommendations as net telephony can dent their revenue from long distance services. Opposing TRAI’s recommendations, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) argued, “As telcos had got their licences after paying a huge entry fee (Rs 16.51 billion), ISPs too must be charged the same fee before they are permitted to offer net telephony.”
Telecom operators may also take up the issue with the government. According to COAI director-general T.V. Ramachandran, unrestricted internet telephony would infringe upon the scope of access providers and hurt the business of existing service providers. TRAI, however, disagrees. In fact, it pulled up the telecom operators for failing to provide net telephony services despite their licences permitting them to do so. Above all, TRAI maintains that opening up internet telephony is in the interest of users ?? a point few can indeed refute.
