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INTERNET
WITH TELEPHONY
Internet
Service provider (ISP) Policy was announced in November,
98 which prohibited Telephony on Internet.
The
New Telecom Policy’99 envisaged opening up of Internet
Telephony whereupon the Government has decided to
permit ISPs to process
and carry voice signals ( Restricted Internet Telephony
Service) with effect from 1st April, 2002, subject to
the broad guidelines
.Brief details are as under;
-
Only
ISP licensees are permitted, within their service
area, to offer Internet Telephony service.
The applicant company is required to pay Rs. 10,000/-
as processing fee along with the application.
- Any Indian company
with a maximum foreign equity of 74% is eligible for
grant of Licence (100%
is also allowed, but in that case the ISP can not set
up an International Gateway)
- Based on Service Area
of Operation, they are categorized as Category 'A',
'B' and 'C'.
-
|
Category |
Service
Area |
| Category "A" |
Whole
of India |
| Category "B" |
20
territorial Telecom Circles, four Metro
Districts- Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta or Chennai
and four major Telephone Districts- Ahmedabad,
Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune. |
| Category "C" |
Any
Secondary Switching Areas (SSA) of DOT with
geographical boundaries as on 1.4.98 |
- An applicant company
may be granted any number of licenses and there will
be no limit of number of licenses granted in a
particular area.
- Performance Bank
Guarantee - Rs. 2 Crore for Category 'A' Service
Area, Rs. 20 lakh for each Category 'B' Service Area
and Rs. 3 Lakh for each Category 'C' Service
Area.
-
License
fee is waived unto 31.10.2003 and will be Re. 1/- per
annum thereafter for those ISPs who obtain licenses prior
to 01.11.2003.; however, the Telecom Authority reserves
the right to review an impose license fee including
Universal Service Obligation (USO) levy anytime during
the validity of the license, which decision with its
terms and conditions, shall be binding on the
licensee.
-
Private ISPs are permitted to setup their own
gateways. ISPs are allowed to set up international
gateways using satellite and submarine cable landing
stations.
-
Under Simplified Exit policy
, an ISP can surrender the Licence without
starting the service, by paying surrender charges.
The surrender charges would be equivalent to 5% of
the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) amount.
For
more details, kindly click below
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