<p>Sector watchdog Trai will set inter-connection charges for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the relevant clause of the Unified Licence framework.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended amending the licence provision for inter-connection at the IP level, which would facilitate Internet-based calls, alternatively known as VoIP calls.<br /><br />A telecom company is required to pay inter-connection charges when its subscriber makes a call to one on another network. The charge gets added up in the final price, which the subscriber has to pay.<br /><br />Currently, there are inter-connection charges for VoIP calls as the licence did not have a clause for inter-connection at IP level.<br /><br />"How can we determine charges till the time licence is not amended? When this licence condition is accepted... we will determine the inter-connection charges for the IP-based network," a senior Trai official told PTI.<br /><br />He added that Trai has only recommended to amend, and not regulate, the licence provision.<br /><br />"It's Trai's domain to determine charges. However, till the time DoT accepts the proposition, we can't determine the charges," the official explained.<br /><br />Proposing to amend the licence, Trai has said there is no explicit clause relating to inter-connection at the IP level in the existing licence, which necessitates insertion of such a clause.<br /><br />Since IP-based networks, Trai said, continue to proliferate and traditional circuit switch networks are gradually being phased out, there exists the need to facilitate inter-connection.<br /><br />Once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the licence, it will benefit telecom operators as they can terminate Internet calls on each other's network.<br /><br />The new IP-based network as well as its co-existence with legacy network is expected to give rise to operational, inter-connection and service quality issues, which need to be addressed for successful migration to IP-based networks, Trai had said earlier in a consultation paper. Networks of all telecom companies are inter-connected, which is vital for completion of calls or sharing of messages through mobile or landline phones. The clause 27.3 of the Unified Licence specifically deals in inter-connection between networks of different licensees for carrying circuit-switched traffic. It also provides for inter-connection between a circuit-switched network and an IP-based one through a media gateway switch.<br /><br />But there is no explicit mention of an inter-connection at the IP level between two licensees.<br /><br />DoT, in its letter dated November 10, 2015 to Trai, had flagged industry concerns on removal of inter-connection restrictions at the IP level to ensure seamless connectivity and requested Trai to indicate an expected timeline for the same. <br /></p>
<p>Sector watchdog Trai will set inter-connection charges for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the relevant clause of the Unified Licence framework.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended amending the licence provision for inter-connection at the IP level, which would facilitate Internet-based calls, alternatively known as VoIP calls.<br /><br />A telecom company is required to pay inter-connection charges when its subscriber makes a call to one on another network. The charge gets added up in the final price, which the subscriber has to pay.<br /><br />Currently, there are inter-connection charges for VoIP calls as the licence did not have a clause for inter-connection at IP level.<br /><br />"How can we determine charges till the time licence is not amended? When this licence condition is accepted... we will determine the inter-connection charges for the IP-based network," a senior Trai official told PTI.<br /><br />He added that Trai has only recommended to amend, and not regulate, the licence provision.<br /><br />"It's Trai's domain to determine charges. However, till the time DoT accepts the proposition, we can't determine the charges," the official explained.<br /><br />Proposing to amend the licence, Trai has said there is no explicit clause relating to inter-connection at the IP level in the existing licence, which necessitates insertion of such a clause.<br /><br />Since IP-based networks, Trai said, continue to proliferate and traditional circuit switch networks are gradually being phased out, there exists the need to facilitate inter-connection.<br /><br />Once the Department of Telecom (DoT) amends the licence, it will benefit telecom operators as they can terminate Internet calls on each other's network.<br /><br />The new IP-based network as well as its co-existence with legacy network is expected to give rise to operational, inter-connection and service quality issues, which need to be addressed for successful migration to IP-based networks, Trai had said earlier in a consultation paper. Networks of all telecom companies are inter-connected, which is vital for completion of calls or sharing of messages through mobile or landline phones. The clause 27.3 of the Unified Licence specifically deals in inter-connection between networks of different licensees for carrying circuit-switched traffic. It also provides for inter-connection between a circuit-switched network and an IP-based one through a media gateway switch.<br /><br />But there is no explicit mention of an inter-connection at the IP level between two licensees.<br /><br />DoT, in its letter dated November 10, 2015 to Trai, had flagged industry concerns on removal of inter-connection restrictions at the IP level to ensure seamless connectivity and requested Trai to indicate an expected timeline for the same. <br /></p>