The Hindu Business Line : Basic players oppose lower dial-up Net access tariff

THE private basic operators have opposed the proposal of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to lower the telephone tariffs for dial-up Internet connections.

At present, a user pays the same call charges for using the landline to make voice calls and to connect to the net i.e. Rs 1.20 for every call duration of three minutes.

While the Authority had mooted a lowering of this rate for surfing the net in order to increase Internet penetration, the basic operators have noted that this may lead to more congestion in their networks.

According to official sources, the operators have written to the TRAI stating that the point of greatest congestion is the switch at which Internet service provider (ISP) connects to the exchange, because many users call into the ISP simultaneously and stay connected for long durations.

Internet connections tie up an end-to-end call path through the public switched network (PSTN) for the duration of the call. For a voice call, very few people stay on line for a long period of time, there is no need for the basic operator's switches to support all users of the switch being connected simultaneously.

"The ISP generates 20 calls in an hour while voice calls would generate an average of 30 calls. The basic operator does not get compensated for the loss arising out of this differential," they have noted.

The operators have further stated that since voice calls are generally short calls, call blockage on the voice network tends to be negligible because a significant percentage of users are unlikely to be connected simultaneously.

Internet calls are substantially longer calls and are major causes of network congestion. In this case , network upgradation would be required only to serve the needs of the ISPs in the current circumstances.

Therefore, if ISPs come forth and invest in and creating such an infrastructure, lower charges for dial-up connections can be considered. Otherwise, there is no scope for reduction of dial-up charges by basic operators.

They have further noted that if the call costs for Internet access are reduced, it would require a certain increase in usage by users to balance the loss in revenues for the basic service operators.

If this increase is gradual then there will be a certain interim period during which the basic service operators will incur losses. However, there was no guarantee of any increase at all, they added.