The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has made a new amendment to the Unified Access Service (UAS) license agreement (pdf), paving way for VoIP and VoLTE (IP based connections) interconnection in India. The new amendment is aimed at facilitating VoIP & VoLTE users to make and receive calls to and from non-IP based networks and vice-versa. The amendment was originally recommended by the TRAI in February after consulting with telcos and associations like the COAI. At that time, the TRAI added that there exists many instances of voice traffic being carried over IP networks rather the the traditional circuit-switched networks. “As IP based networks continue to proliferate and traditional circuit switch networks are gradually being phased out, there exists need to facilitate interconnection at IP level,” TRAI added. Last month, an inter-ministerial panel approved VoIP and VoLTE interconnection in India after recommendation weree issued by the TRAI in February. What UAS means for telcos With the rise of LTE networks, VoLTE is picking up a grip in the Indian market as more LTE-enabled smartphones hit the shelves. In addition, Reliance’s Jio, which is expected to launch commercially, explicitly uses LTE connectivity to make Jio-to-Jio calls only, due to current regulations in the industry. With the newly amended DoT regulations, more telcos could adopt and provide VoLTE services to customers. According to Clause 27.3 of Unified License, which deals with interconnection between the networks of two different licensees, ‘a circuit-switched network can interconnect with an IP-based network through a Media Gateway Switch’. However,…
