Clarification and Amendments regarding Internet Telephony

The DoT issued a clarification on June 19, 2018 stating that internet telephony service is an un-tethered service from the underlying access network and such service can be provided by access service provider to the customer using the internet services provided by other service providers. As a step further on this clarification, DoT has amended the telecom licenses, including the unified license, to incorporate certain provisions in relation to internet telephony service. Some of the salient features of the amendment are:

i. internet telephony calls originated by international out roamers from international locations need to be handed over at international gateway of licensed international long distance operators. The international termination charges must be paid to the terminating access service provider;

ii. the mobile numbering series should be used for providing internet telephony by a licensee. The same number may be allocated for cellular mobile service as well as internet telephony service;

iii. telecom licensees are required to comply with all the interception and monitoring related requirements as specified in the respective licence (as amended from time to time);

iv. IP address assigned to a subscriber for this service must conform to IP addressing scheme of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority; and

v. the licensees providing internet service may facilitate access to emergency number calls using location services. This is not a mandatory requirement presently.