Technology is always changing, especially in telecom and IT. So should the regulations. Last week, the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) initiated a process of bringing Internet telephony under the ambit of India’s regulatory regime.
First, let us see what is permitted and what is not under the existing Internet Telephony guidelines. Making and receiving Internet Telephony calls through an App is allowed. For example, you can receive and make Skype calls to another Skype App subscriber. The receiver may be in India or abroad or vice versa.
However, if you go abroad and want to make a Skype call to your friend on his landline (or non Smart phone) in India, you are not allowed to do it. This is clearly anti consumer as a large number of people don’t have Smart phones in India. Skype terminated such a service in 2014 following objections from the domestic telecom service providers and authorities.
Indian Operators argue that they have made huge investments in setting up networks. Moreover, they pay licence and spectrum fee to the government. They are right. The OTT providers such as Skype should also be allowed to offer voice telephony services only if they pay all the charges that telecom Operators pay.
It is also true that these services are very user friendly. Development in Internet Telephony ensures efficient use of networks and brings downs costs.
So it has become important that the Internet Telephony services should be brought under the ambit of Telecom regulations. That is the reason that TRAI has issued a Consultation paper on Internet Telephony.
TRAI has tried to tackle the issue of bringing OTT players at par with Telecom Service Providers through termination charges. This is the right method. Termination charges are the charges that a telecom service provider pays to another when a call originating from its network terminates to the network in which another person is receiving the call.
However, in the case of Internet Telephony, it will be difficult to differentiate between a domestic and International call. This is an important issue that the regulator will have to tackle.
Another important issue is that of the numbering system. Numbering system for Internet calls should be different from ordinary calls. It should not have any conflict with the existing numbering system.
This is just the beginning. A lot of technology development will take place in Internet Telephony and we can’t deprive consumers from these developments. So what is needed is a regime that ensures level playing field between the telecom service providers and OTT players. |