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Evolution of VoIP Technology In India

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Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. — Ever since the government deregulated internet telephony three years back, more and more Indians are turning to this new technology to keep in touch with their loved ones abroad as it is far cheaper than the normal telephone calls. Despite tight regulations, bandwith problems and the quality of service issues, it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of all International long distance calls from India are made over the Internet, and this is set to go further up in the coming years, say experts. According to a survey by iLocus, by 2007, about 70 per cent of all long distance calls would be made through Internet Telephony or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

“Despite key policy issues that need urgent redressal, with proliferation of broadband, the quality of service would definitely improve, and this would go a long way in getting more people to use Internet Telephony” says Mr Jasjit Sawhney, CEO, Net4India, one of the leading Internet Service Providers in the country. Although there are better prospects in the enterprise market, the government has restricted it for a closed user group. Some of the major institutions using this service for internal communications include Infosys and Wipro. Some call centres are also using this medium.

“VOIP or IP telephony as a concept has matured significantly in the last couple of years with the technology evolving into a more robust and stable platform to deliver superior levels of service. The technology and its applications have grown as a direct result of a latent market demand for open standards and value-added services — while also delivering cost advantages”, says Mr Mathew Varghese, principal consultant, Cisco Systems India. Cisco provides IP-based hardware and software solutions for enterprises like IP phones, a data network and gateways.

An individual user in India can use this service with a PC and an Internet connection and is restricted to make calls outside the country only. Due to low level PC penetration in India, the number of callers is limited. The Internet Telephony market is also dominated by “grey callers” in the absence of loopholes in the government policies. “Due to various governmental impositions on Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the grey market has come into play and around 60 per cent of all long-distance calls are from the grey market” says Mr Sawhney. Mr Sawhney says that the government should further deregulate the market and allow phone-to-phone telephony through the net and also consider throwing up long-distance calling within the country for ISPs.”This is one communications revolution that is waiting to happen” declares Mr Sawhney.

According to a market research group, India is the second largest market for VoIP services in Asia after China. The Indian IP telephony is expected to register an average of 60 per cent over the next 3-5 years. Some of the spin offs of using Internet Protocol include convergence of communication needs like voice, video or data on a single platform.