India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has finalized the internet service provider license agreement and has allowed them to set up the last mile link to the consumer, set up their own gateways with earth stations and associated switching and routing equipment for international connectivity. There has been considerable pressure from private fixed-line operators not to allow ISPs to provide the last-mile link and from Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the state monopoly ISP and international carrier, over the proposal to allow ISPs to set up gateways. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will work out a rational tariff structure for internet services and coordinate security clearances for license applicants from various government agencies. A greater role for TRAI in management of ISPs is the new inclusions in the guidelines for ISPs to be announced by the government on November 7. The guideline also allows for cable operators to become ISPs by either hooking on directly to earth stations through a VSAT or to local nodes by a wired connection without additional license fees. The defense services can offer internet services to civilians. On the technical side all ISPs will have to follow the TCP-IP protocol. Videsh Sanchar has adopted a two-pronged strategy to tackle competition from private ISPs and at the same time exploit demand for international connectivity from these operators. VSNL’s managing director said the firm would launch e-commerce services by next month. At least one e-commerce platform will be ready by December, he said. It will offer mail servers, domain name services and integration of a firm’s network to the internet. VSNL has 100 Mbps of spare bandwidth and says it will offer this capacity at competitive rates to potential ISPs.
