Speak while you Surf

If you thought talking over the Internet–telephony over Internet protocol

(IP)–was legal in India, you were wrong. Enterprises were allowed to use

managed voice over IP (VoIP) networks within closed user groups. Besides, there

has been no restriction on licensed voice service providers using IP as an

underlying technology to offer their services. So what do the recently announced

Department of Telecommunications guidelines for setting up Internet telephony

services imply? In simple words, it means that internet service providers (ISPs)

can now offer voice services over the public Internet network, something, which

was illegal earlier.

The

new guidelines obviously have positive repercussions on both the ISP business

and enterprises. ISPs would benefit from the fact that the entire value

proposition of the services they offer would change with the legalization of

Internet telephony. They can look forward to new revenue generating streams.

Also, cheap domestic and international voice would result in users spending more

time on the Internet thereby consuming more bandwidth. Besides, services like

VPN can be made efficient and cost-effective by voice enabling them. "ISPs

now have permission to offer one more application and service to their

subscribers, targeting retail and enterprises. If one were to look at Internet

telephony from the perspective of one more application, then the benefits of it

begin to make sense," says Vijay Yadav, country manager, CommWorks.

The new regulation is not likely to create much impact on the existing voice

market in the country especially in relation to the business of existing fixed

service providers. Most basic service providers as well as international long

distance licensees, who also hold ISP licenses, are likely to use the public

network to offer cheaper voice alternative and also bundle the service with

existing public switched telephone network (PSTN) voice. How much impact this

could create is not known given the country’s abysmally low PC penetration.

"I think PC penetration is an important factor for otherwise, Internet

telephony would not have an impact on the consumer market," says Ajit

Thatte, vice-president, marketing, Tata Telecom. Also, it is a fact that world

over wherever Internet telephony has been allowed, it has created a new market

for itself. People who are most likely to use Internet telephony would be those

who have little regard for quality or those who are going to be first time users

of international voice services.

For enterprises, there would not be much change. The ones who could afford to

invest in their own networks, have been allowed VoIP over closed user groups all

along. Even prior to the announcement of this policy, they could set up a single

network to offer voice and data services, as long as the network and its

services were restricted to the closed user group of that enterprise. However,

Yadav points out, small enterprises who could not afford to set up their own

networks, can now avail this service over a service provider’s IP network.

Manish Sablok, national marketing manager, Tata Telecom, explains. "Now

that the government has allowed Internet telephony, enterprises would be more

receptive to the technology. A lot of CIOs believe that Internet telephony is

not a mature technology yet. Opening up Internet telephony would give us an

opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of IP."

RAVI SHEKHAR PANDEY in New Delhi