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THE government on Monday refused to lift existing curbs on Internet telephony even as it cleared way for cheaper long-distance calls by allowing Indian subscribers to opt for a telecom operator of their choice regardless of their service provider.
Currently, a subscriber can avail only the STD and ISD tariffs offered by her service provider. Globally, long-distance tariffs have fallen 20-53% after customers were allowed to choose their operator.
According to the new move by the Telecom Commission, subscribers can buy calling cards from an operator of their choice, which would allow all players who carry long distance calls to sell their services directly to the consumer. Companies like RailTel, Powergrid, Tulip IT services and foreign operators such as British Telecom, AT&T, Verizon, France Telecom and Cable & Wireless can all now sell their long distance tariffs directly to customers.
In other words, the subscriber can buy calling cards from an operator of her choice, punch in a set of numbers specified in the package, and avail the cheap fares offered by the operator, all through your existing service provider.
“Allowing calling cards will hit the bottomlines of all telcos. It can trigger a price war and bulk consumers and large users, who happen to be the high revenue generating customers may take this option,� said a senior executive in a company that is present only in the long distance space.
On the Internet telephony front, a technology that could have let subscribers avail long-distance telephony at rock bottom charges, Internet service providers (ISPs) said that were disappointed by the Telecom commission’s move to refer it back to the telecom regulator Trai.
Internet telephony will allow consumers to make STD calls as cheap as 10-40 paise per minute and also make free local calls from their computers. Most telcos are opposed to lifting curbs on net telephony as this will enable ISPs to challenge their dominance in the domestic communication market. Telecom companies also add that ISPs must take licences that cost Rs 1,651 crroe before they are allowed to offer Internet telephony services.
Last year, the industry regulator Trai had recommended that all curbs on Net telephony be removed. At present, a call from a computer could legally be made only to another computer within the country, and not to a phone. But the existing regime allows domestic users to make international calls to a phone from their computer. Full-fledged Internet telephony will allow consumers to make calls from PCs or laptops to fixedline and mobile phones in India. They can also make a call to personal computers from their mobile handsets. When permitted, rural India will be the biggest beneficiary as users will be able to make ultra-cheap calls from PCOs using this technology. Besides, broadband growth will also get a boost.

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Now, you can buy calling cards from an operator of your choice, punch in a set of numbers specified in the package and avail the cheap fares offered by the operator, all through your existing service provider This would allow all telcos who carry long-distance calls to sell their services directly to the consumers Allowing calling cards is likely to hit the bottomlines of all telcos as it will trigger a price war

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Internet service providers were disappointed by Telecom Commission’s move to refer Internet telephony back to Trai Internet telephony would have allowed users to make STD calls as cheap as 10-40 paise per minute and also make free local calls from their computers Most telcos are opposed to lifting curbs as this will enable ISPs to challenge their dominance in the domestic market