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G. Rambabu

Some of them have now joined the exchange and utilise it for routing their domestic traffic. But a vast majority of the traffic is still sent abroad.

New Delhi , Dec. 1

THE Government may make it mandatory for Internet service providers (ISP) to link up with the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). This could lead to a decline in the cost of Internet connections, improvement in quality of service and savings on foreign exchange spent for leasing international bandwidth.

According to official sources, at present only 20 ISPs have joined the NIXI, which has been operational for eight months now, with close to 85 per cent of the Internet traffic still being routed to servers in foreign countries.

The exchange was set up to retain the domestic Internet traffic within the country, without having to make the circuitous route to the foreign shores (such as US) and back. "The NIXI was proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) more than a year ago in order to increase Internet penetration while brining about tangible benefits to both ISPs as well as subscribers. However, even after it was set up, many of the ISPs were initially reluctant to join it.

Although some of them have now joined the exchange and utilise it for routing all their domestic traffic, a vast majority of the traffic is still sent abroad. It is therefore proposed to make it compulsory for every ISP licensee to join the Exchange," they noted.

The sources noted that the TRAI was in the process of examining whether the current parameters for connection with NIXI posed a financial burden on ISPs.

If so, efforts would be made to introduce some sops to make it an attractive proposition.

TRAI is also going to take a re-look at the management structure of the exchange and suggest ways in which it can be made more efficient.

At present NIXI is managed by an executive board, comprising 5-7 honorary members who should be representing relevant Ministries, the regulator, industry association body and academia. An operating team comprising professionals manage the daily operational activities of the exchange.

The NIXI has been set up as a non-profit company managed by a board of directors drawn from the Department of Information Technology, academicians from institutions such as IIT, ISP Association of India (ISPAI) and individual service providers.

The Government has earmarked Rs 4.5 crore for setting up the exchange in four centres of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

While Internet nodes at Delhi (Noida) and Mumbai have become operational, NIXI Chennai and Kolkata are likely to be operational soon.

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