Sibal to discuss migration of ISPs to unified licence

"Minister has asked us to meet him on Saturday," said Rajesh Charia, president, Internet Service Provider Association of India (ISPAI).

Sibal in his meeting with top officials from telecom industry held today is reported to have mentioned that all future UASL licences will be in two categories, namely in national and service area level

However, at present there are various category of service licenses that are issued by Department of Telecommunications.

Internet service providers (ISP) are allowed to provide data connectivity and limited voice service to their subscribers.

An ISP, however, is not allowed to connect to PSTN (Public switched telephone network) which includes network of basic and mobile phones.

On the other hand, a UASL service provider is allowed to provide voice and data service on both internet and PSTN lines.

ISPAI is demanding that government provide ISP licence holder an easy migration route to UAS licences for business continuity as the licences have been now delinked from spectrum.

"Most of the ISP licences are going to expire soon. In view of government's decision to move to only UASL regime, without spectrum, we want government to give us migration path to UASL on very low cost entry fee," said Charia.

There are more than 350 ISPs licence holders in India. These licences are at present given in two categories A and B for Rs 30 lakh and 15 lakh respectively.

These licences will start expiring from 2013 onward.

Charia mentioned that ISPAI will also discuss whether ISPs can be brought under class or reseller licences which will enable them to sell internet bandwidth in India to other players.