Points Of Presence

By Laura Guevin
Editorial Director, BiometriTech

It's not an April Fool's joke. No, it's finally happened for real -- after years of debate and procrastination, the Indian government has legalized limited Internet telephony, and ISPs will be able to begin offering services as of April 1. The government, acting on a recommendation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has decided to allow providers to offer the service without paying any entry fees or obtaining a separate license.

Guidelines issued today by the Indian Department of Telecom define Internet telephony as an application service, and permit residents to use it for calling from PC to PC (inside and outside of India), from a PC in India to a telephone outside of India, and from IP-based H.323/SIP terminals in India to similar terminals inside and outside of India, employing the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA) addressing scheme. Residents will not be able to call from a PC to a phone within India, protecting long-distance PSTN players. VoIP calls terminating at phones inside India will not be allowed either, and phone-to-phone VoIP calls are not yet included in the definition of Internet telephony. The guidelines do allow access to an ISP node through the facilities of authorized cable operators, however.

Under the guidelines, the TRAI reserves the right to review and fix a tariff on ISPs at any time during the validity of their licenses. The government also reserves the right to impose a license fee, including a Universal Service Obligation levy. The guidelines also require additional monitoring systems to be set up by ISPs carrying Internet telephony traffic at their own cost, to meet the requirements of government security agencies. ISPs who wish to offer Internet telephony services will be required to sign an amendment to their existing ISP license agreement, which will be available on the DOT Web site. An application form is already available, and requires a non-refundable 10,000 INR (about $205 U.S.) processing fee.

BUSINESS IS BOOMING
The news of legalized Internet telephony, announced late last week, has triggered a spate of VoIP announcements in the country. Hinduja TMT Ltd (HTMT) has unveiled plans to launch VoIP services by the third week in April. The services will be part of the company's intercable subsidiary, and will be offered subject to receiving government approval. The U.S.-based netGuru has also announced a telecommunications contract for India. The company, which provides Internet and IT products and services, will use a proprietary IP infrastructure to offer wholesale telecommunications services to Technosoft Solutions for international long-distance calls terminating in India. Initial call volume is expected to be at about two million minutes per month.

Israel-based AudioCodes is also exploring the possibility of a manufacturing and distribution alliance in India. The company, which develops VoIP technology, is talking with Wipro and Crompton Greaves about partnerships. AudioCodes is also investigating a contract manufacturing arrangement, in which an Indian company would manufacture VoIP products on behalf of the company.

And India-based Apcom Computers has also decided to offer solutions for India's fast-growing VoIP market. The company offers the DAX brand of modems and networking products, and will use the same name to sell VoIP routers and gateways.

According to the Indian financial Web site myiris, VSNL (the former state-owned international long-distance provider, which was privatized last month and which will lose its monopoly status on April 1) claims it will lose more than 60 to 100 billion rupees (1 to 2 billion U.S. dollars) in foreign exchange because of the absence of sharing charges for Internet telephony providers. But ISPs obviously see the legalization differently, and many believe it will even the playing field in a country that appears to be finally taking bold steps toward privatization.

Laura Guevin is the editorial director of BiometriTech (www.biometritech.com), an online magazine and newsletter covering biometric technologies and products. She welcomes your comments at lguevin@tmcnet.com.