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G. Rambabu

The biggest beneficiary of this could be VSNL, which has the largest infrastructure, using a combination of cable & satellite bandwidth and employs the TDMA technology.

NEW DELHI, May 5

IN what is expected to change the market dynamics of the international long distance (ILD) operations, there is finally going to be distinction between toll-quality services and below-toll-quality services.

According to industry sources, the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) which has been mandated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to develop a lab testing and pre-commissioning testing system for quality of services (QoS) of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) networks is finalising its measurement scales. It is expected to announce them shortly.

The absence so far of a QoS measuring system has been a significant influence on the sharp fall in ISD prices, as access providers (basic and cellular operators) were focusing more on the commercial terms of interconnect agreements with ILD than on the tonal quality.

In absence of Carrier Access Codes (CAC), the consumer has had to depend on the choice made by his access provider on the ILD network through which his calls are routed. Now, however the ILD operators will have to specifically offer two kinds of services, one that meets the quality standards, and the other that is cheaper but of inferior quality.

The access providers will now be able to make a choice whether to go with the ILD operator offering the best commercial terms or the one offering the best QoS as the consumer profile of all access providers is sensitive to different price points and quality standards. This would benefit the consumer who has been forced to make internationals calls on below-toll-quality networks, they said.

"Presently, as there is no quality measurement mechanism is in place, some ILD providers are shortchanging the consumer by offering below toll quality calls through access providers and charging rates which are applicable for toll quality calls," they pointed out.

The sources noted that in its notification on QoS issued last year for VoIP- based ILD services, TRAI had prescribed norms for toll-quality of services and below toll quality, which were to be informed to the consumer and charged at different rates. In this regard, TRAI has nominated TEC to set-up testing facilities that will measure the ILD calls on basis of Jitters, Packet Delay, Packet loss, R-Value and Mean Optimum Score.

The biggest beneficiary of this could be VSNL, which has the largest infrastructure, using a combination of cable & satellite bandwidth and employs the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology. New operators offering cheaper calls using the VoIP technology may have to keep their quality on check now, or admit that they are offering below-toll quality services. Especially since now, the access providers will be able to check the QoS, commercial terms will not be the only criteria to sign inter connect agreements.

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