Low-cost internet telephony app locks horns with operators

NEW DELHI: Ringo, the low-cost internet telephony app, which was blocked by telecom regulator TRAI shortly after being launched in India in December, is at loggerheads with telcos over points of interconnect (PoIs). It is now attempting to launch its services again after acquiring a unified licence in February.

TRAI had blocked the service after Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Airtel complained that the company was exploiting the law mandating zero termination charges from and to landlines.

But the tussle over PoIs is not new. Reliance Jio that was launched in September faced the same issue with operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. The new operator had complained that PoIs given to it by the incumbent operators were not enough to sustain call volumes on its network.

However, Bhavin Turakhia, founder and CEO of Ringo, says his case is different as operators except BSNL and TTML have either refused PoIs or put clauses in agreements such as “onerous bank guarantees to the tune of Rs. 10 crore”. This prevents Ringo from accessing PoIs in spite of having a valid unified licence for which it “paid Rs 7.5 crore”.

“Internet telephony is the way forward for voice services. However, even though it was permitted eight years ago, the Indian consumer hasn’t benefitted from it as Vodafone, Airtel and Idea have neither launched internet telephony, nor permitted other operators to do so.

“By failing to provide us with a non-discriminatory interconnection agreement, or with the mandatory points of interconnect, these companies are making it incredibly difficult for us to do business. Even the consumer is losing out as internet telephony allows you to make low-cost calls,” Turakhia alleged.

The licence law dictates that “the access service under this authorisation covers collection, carriage, transmission and delivery of voice and/or non-voice messages over licensee’s network in the designated service area. The licensee can also provide internet telephony, internet services ... and triple play voice, video and data.”

But operators reject Thakuria’s claim. “The problem is with the modus operandi of Ringo. Under the law, there is insufficient clarity on how a call via Ringo is to be routed or an interconnection provided for the same,” an executive from a top telco said.