BWA firms get nod for voice via Net
The Telecom Commission — the highest policy-making body in the telecom ministry — on Monday allowed operators holding broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band to provide voice services if they pay an additional R1,658 crore. However, a company like Reliance Industries (RIL) which has pan-India BWA spectrum cannot immediately start providing voice services in a manner in which other mobile operators like Bharti Airtel or Vodafone do. This is because currently, there are no standard devices which can support voice services using the 2.3 GHz spectrum band.
However, what companies like RIL can do if they chose to pay the additional R1,658 crore is to provide voice services from a personal computer or a tablet-like device to landline and mobile phones, which was earlier not allowed. Prior to this decision, a company like RIL could only have provided voice services between computers. So, in effect, what the government has done is allowing seamless internet telephony.
The Commission’s decision – which must be approved by the Cabinet – is on the basis that such a payment will entitle BWA holders to migrate to the proposed unified licensing regime and provide for a level-play field with access service providers like Bharti Airtel, since they had paid an entry fee of the same amount for providing pan-India services.
The BWA spectrum holders who entered the market after the July 2010 auctions currently hold an Internet Service Provider licence for which the fee was Rs 30 lakh.
Other pure-play BWA spectrum holders are Augere
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