DoT rule to lower bandwidth costsCall centres, banks and business process outsourcing (BPO) units could soon find their bandwidth costs head south.
That is the likely fallout of a decision taken today by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to permit the re-sale of international private leased circuits (IPLC) or international wholesale bandwidth.
“The government has permitted resale of IPLC and introduced a category called the ‘resale of IPLC’ service licence with effect from September 24,” the DoT said.
The resellers will buy the wholesale bandwidth from licensed international long-distance (ILD) operators such as Reliance Communications, Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) or Bharti and sell it to end-consumers such as BPOs, banks, and exporters.
“The move will enable data carriage at competitive costs. While it will benefit those using IPLC for data carriage, major ILD operators such as Tata Communications, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications will face more competition in terms of offering better rates,” an industry watcher said.
The increase in the number of players is also expected to improve the quality of services, he said.
The BPO sector accounts for almost 70 per cent of IPLC bandwidth in India, industry experts said.
The government has allowed open competition in the resale of IPLC without any ceiling on the number of resellers.
However, operators will have to be Indian companies with a net worth as well as paid-up capital of at least Rs 2.5 crore. The FDI cap for IPLC resellers is fixed at 74 per cent – in keeping with the current level in the telecom sector.
The resellers will be allowed to provide end-to-end IPLC of any capacity between India and the country of destination. They will be permitted to enter into agreements for leased line with access providers, national long distance and ILD service providers.
That is the likely fallout of a decision taken today by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to permit the re-sale of international private leased circuits (IPLC) or international wholesale bandwidth.
“The government has permitted resale of IPLC and introduced a category called the ‘resale of IPLC’ service licence with effect from September 24,” the DoT said.
The resellers will buy the wholesale bandwidth from licensed international long-distance (ILD) operators such as Reliance Communications, Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) or Bharti and sell it to end-consumers such as BPOs, banks, and exporters.
“The move will enable data carriage at competitive costs. While it will benefit those using IPLC for data carriage, major ILD operators such as Tata Communications, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications will face more competition in terms of offering better rates,” an industry watcher said.
The increase in the number of players is also expected to improve the quality of services, he said.
The BPO sector accounts for almost 70 per cent of IPLC bandwidth in India, industry experts said.
The government has allowed open competition in the resale of IPLC without any ceiling on the number of resellers.
However, operators will have to be Indian companies with a net worth as well as paid-up capital of at least Rs 2.5 crore. The FDI cap for IPLC resellers is fixed at 74 per cent – in keeping with the current level in the telecom sector.
The resellers will be allowed to provide end-to-end IPLC of any capacity between India and the country of destination. They will be permitted to enter into agreements for leased line with access providers, national long distance and ILD service providers.