Explainer Briefly Slides Cisco subsidiary Webex has urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to provide guidance on application service providers in relation to existing and prospective licencing regimes. Calling for a pan-India authorisation of such service providers, the company made a range of suggestions, like the removal of interception requirements and migration to VNO licenses, in response to a recent TRAI’s consultation paper on frameworks for authorisation under the Telecommunication Act, 2023. These are a new class of service providers in the telecom industry who don’t build telecom networks or seek numbering resources but instead procure these from licensed Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). They then use these resources to provide application services to enterprise customers. Some examples of these are software as a service provider (SaaS) and unified communication as as a service (UCaaS). For context, UCaaS is a cloud-delivered unified communications model that gives companies one solution to their communication needs like cloud telephony, video conferencing, etc.
* **Data security and privacy:** These are crucial for protecting user data and ensuring trust. * **Network access and performance:** These are essential for ensuring a reliable and seamless user experience. * **Interoperability:** This is crucial for enabling seamless communication between different applications and services.
The summary provided focuses on the benefits of cloud computing for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers. It highlights how cloud computing can simplify licensing for UCaaS providers, particularly in the context of centralized data centers. **Detailed Text:**
Cloud computing has emerged as a transformative force in the technology landscape, offering a wide range of benefits for businesses of all sizes.
Remove lawful interception requirements: Webex mentions that few VNO license holders do not intend to seek numbering resources from the Department of Telecommunications. It says that such VNO license holders should be exempt from lawful interception requirements since the telcos they get network resources from are already monitoring their traffic. Allow migration from unified license to VNO license: Webex also argues that there is a lack of regulatory clarity between players operating in the service layer and the application layer of the telecom ecosystem (such as VNOs and application-level services like Voice Mail and Over the Top communication services). Advertisements
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is facing a challenge in regulating the telecom sector. The challenge stems from the fragmented nature of the sector, with multiple players operating under different licensing regimes. This fragmentation leads to a lack of clarity and consistency in regulations, making it difficult for new entrants to navigate the regulatory landscape.
