India telecom regulator TRAI on September 8 released recommendations on UL (VNO) category B license — for boosting wireline sector.
The TRAI recommendations are important because the traffic generated from wireline services have declined due to proliferation of mobile services. This has resulted in depletion of outgoing calls resulting into cut in the commission of DID Franchisees from TSPs.
BSNL has a strong presence in the Indian wireline segment. Bharti Airtel is the second largest wireline telephony operator.
Applications such as Skype, Face time, IMO, Whatapp etc. negatively impacted the ISD call traffic of DID franchisees. Unlimited voice calls and data offered by certain TSPs also added to decline of their revenue.
TRAI noted that UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ companies can offer connectivity / network in Smart Cities. M2M service providers can utilize the last mile access network of UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee in a smart city.
TRAI said that the scope of proposed UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ license should be to provide only wireline access services and not wireless services within a district.
TRAI recommendations
A new category of authorization may be introduced under Unified License (VNO), for Access Service as Category ‘B’ license with districts as a service area on non-exclusive basis.
Existing DID franchisees should migrate to UL (VNO) Category ‘B’ to continue their services.
New license should not be restricted only to existing DID franchisees and should also be open to new entities intending to offer such services.
The number of district to be served by a UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee in a telecom circle should be limited to four. If a licensee wishes to provide services in more than four districts of an LSA, the licensee should be mandated to obtain UL (VNO) Access Service Authorization License for entire LSA.
The duration of UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ license will remain consistent with the guidelines of UL (VNO). Licenses will be issued for 10 years duration and further renewable for 10 years as per prevailing terms and conditions.
The entry fee will be Rs 1,65,000 for 10 years of duration of license for UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee.
FBG of Rs 100,000 shall be applicable to UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ 46 licensee.
UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee should have a net worth of more than Rs 5 lakhs per authorization.
To promote fixed line Broadband, the DoT should implement TRAI recommendations dated 17 April, 2015 on ‘Delivering Broadband Quickly: What do we need to do?’, wherein the license fee on the revenue earned from fixed line broadband should be exempted for at least 5 years.
DoT may consider review of AGR components; and charges paid by UL (VNO) licensee to the TSP / NSO for procurement of services should be allowed to be deducted as pass through charges for the purpose of calculating the AGR. This will be in line with the Input Tax Credit (ITC) feature under Goods and Service Tax regime.
The amount of maximum penalty on UL (VNO) Category ‘B’ licensee should be same as provisioned for ISP Cat ‘C’ in UL (VNO) policy.
The penalty on failure to comply with subscriber verification/ KYC norms should be as per provisions of UL (VNO) policy.
UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee has to comply with obligations arising from Tariff orders/regulations/ directions etc. issued by TRAI from time to time.
Relevant QoS parameters as applicable to UL (VNO) shall also be applicable to UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee. TRAI will define separate QoS parameters for NSO and VNO.
UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensees may be allowed to have arrangement for connectivity at different locations with different TSPs/NSOs in its licensed area of operation.
UL (VNO) (Access service) license may be amended to enable the provision of allowing parenting with multiple NSOs by a VNO for wireline network at different locations of the LSA only in case of provision of wireline access services through EPABX.
The arrangements for allowing connectivity from more than one TSP/NSO at same EPABX can be allowed only after suitable examination and approval by TEC/DoT with desired specifications.
UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee shall intimate the licensor regarding having connectivity of more than one TSP/NSO at particular EPABX, in case such arrangement is approved by DoT.
The provider TSP/NSO shall mandatorily enter into Service Level Agreement (SLA) with UL (VNO) Cat ‘B’ licensee.