ISPAI opposes govt scheme for IP telephony

Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPAI) has called upon the government to allow all existing BSOs, CMSOs, NLDOs and ISPs to provide Internet telephony services by suitably modifying the scope of service spelled out in their respective licenses.

The association cited the permission of the government to let basic operators offer CDMA limited mobility services as an example to press their demand.

ISPAI has also put forth the following demands:

• There should be no entry fee for service providers including ISPs to offer Internet
• Internet Telephony should be treated as an application/content based service
• Telephony on public Internet must be permitted as competition and consumers' right to choice and affordable telecom services are above all other interests and considerations
• Telephony across PCs and/or other Internet access devices should not be regulated at all, as no service provider is required
• QoS parameters may be left to the competitive market forces compelling the service providers to improve their quality of services
• There should be forbearance on tariffs on Internet Telephony services apart from same ceiling as per the normal
  PSTN.