The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has finalised the standard Application Form and Licence Agreement for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).This is a follow-up to the announcement of the New Internet Policy Guidelines by the Government in November, 1997 based on the report of the committee headed by Dr Bimal Jalan to give a boost to Internet use in India. The Government had decided to freely permit private opertors to provide Internet service.
The licences will be issued to all eligible applicants on submission of completed applications in a prescribed form. The application forms containing the guidelines, general information and the details of the licence agreement will be available on sale at the Headquarters of Telecom Commission, Delhi, and the Telecom Circles outside Delhi, from 18th February, 1998 onwards. The broad guidelines and terms and conditions of the ISP licence are:
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA : A company registered in India under the Companies Act, 1956 will be eligible to submit the proposal for providing Internet Service. Foreign equity shall be as per the Government policy and guidelines issued from time to time. At present, the foreign equity is permitted to the extent of 49 per cent. There is no requirement for the applicant-company to have any prior experience in information technology or telecommunication services.
SERVICE AREA : The Internet service areas have been grouped into three categories. Separate licences would be granted to any company for each service area.
CATEGORY 'A' SERVICE AREA : This includes the whole of India.
CATEGORY 'B' SERVICE AREA : This consists of each one of the 20 Territorial Telecom Circles and the four Metro Telephone Systems of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai of the DoT. However, if a licence for the Telephone Systems of four major cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune is required, these will also be treated as Category 'B' Service Area on a par with the Telecom Circles.
CATEGORY 'C' SERVICE AREA : This includes any Secondary Switching Area (SSA) with their geographical boundaries defined by DoT as on 1.4.1997. The SSAs of each of the four Metro Telephone Systems of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai and Telephone Systems of four major cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune with their geographical boundaries defined as on 1.4.1997, however, stand excluded from Category 'C' as they already form a separate Category 'B' Service Area.
PERFORMANCE BANK GUARANTEE (PBG): A performance bank guarantee of Rs.2 crore for each Category 'A' Service Area, Rs.20 lakh for each Category 'B' Service Area and Rs.3 lakh for each category 'C' Service Area valid for two years from any Scheduled Bank in the prescribed proforma shall be submitted alongwith the application for each Service Area.
LICENCE FEE : The licence fee shall be waived for a period of five years upto 31.3.2003. The licence fee to be paid relating to the period starting from 1.4.2003 by the licensee company will be intimated on or before 1.4.2001 and shall be payable to the Telecom Authority irrespective of the time of entry of an ISP.
PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF THE LICENCE AND ITS EXTENSION : The licence shall be valid for an initial period of ten years unless otherwise terminated. If requested by the licensee, extension may be granted by the Telecom Authority on suitable terms and conditions for a period of five years or more at a time.
TARIFF : ISPs will be free to fix their own tariff. The tariff will be left open to be decided by market forces. However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) may review and fix a tariff at any time during the validity of the licence which shall be binding on the Licensee.
NUMBER OF LICENCES FOR ISPs: Applicants will be required to submit separate aplication for each Service Area. An applicant company may be granted any number of licences. There will also be no limit on number of licences that can be granted in a particular Service Area. The leased-line subscribers of the Service will be from within the Service Area but the dial-up-access subscribers could be located anywhere in the country.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS : The ISPs will be required to set up their nodes/servers within the geographical limits of the Service Area. They shall use Internet Protocol (IP) and shall meet the technical requirements of the ISPs (DoT/MTNL/VSNL/other ISPs) to which they are connected. The equipment used by the private ISPs shall be in conformity with the Interface/Protocol requirements as applicable.
E-MAIL AND VSAT SERVICE LICENSEES : Existing E-Mail and VSAT Service Licensees may also obtain separate ISP Licence for any number of the above mentioned Service Areas subject to the fulfilment of the eligibility criteria and shall implement the service independent of their existing network. An ISP may provide Internet service to any VSAT customer (who could be served by a licensed VSAT service provider or captive private VSAT network), if the VSAT is located within the Service Area of the ISP.
INTERCONNECTIVITY : Direct interconnectivity between two separately licensed ISPs shall be permitted. International traffic shall flow only through DoT's Internet Node, i.e., DoT's Internet Access Services (DIAS) or Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL)'s Internet gateway, i.e., Gateway Internet Access Services (GIAS). The ISPs shall have option to connect their Internet node either to DoT's node or VSNL's gateway directly for the purpose of delivery of international traffic.
The licensee may obtain the transmission links on lease from DoT, licensed Basic Service Operator or any other operator specially authorised to lease such lines to the ISPs. The licensee may also establish its own transmission links within its Service Area for carrying traffic related to his service only provided that such capacities are not available from any other authorised agencies and subject to the permission Telecom Authority.
Resources required for operation of the services for extending them over to the network of upstream service provider (DoT/VSNL etc.) or any other service provider licensed by the Authority, including time frame for provision of the same, will be mutually agreed between the parties.
VOICE OVER INTERNET : Voice over Internet is not permitted.
DELIVERY OF THE SERVICE : The licensee shall be responsible for installation, testing and commissioning of all the equipment to provide the service including connectivity to DoT's DIAS or VSNL's GIAS for delivery of Internet traffic. The period of implementation of the licence will be 18 months from the grant of
OBSCENE MATERIAL AND CYBER LAWS : Flow of obscene, objectionable, unauthorised or any other content infringing copy-rights, intellectual property right and against international and domestic Cyber laws (as and when established ) in any form over the ISP's network is not permitted.
COST OF APPLICATION FORM AND PROCESSING FEE : A nominal cost of Rs.1000/- for the Application Form and Rs.5000/- towards processing fee for each application which are non-refundable have been prescribed.
Specimen Application Form will also be available on the Internet Web Site - http://www.vsnl.net.in/tec
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