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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has set the ball rolling for telecom operators to migrate to next-generation networks (NGNs). The regulator has released a consultation paper, "Licensing Issues Related to Next Generation Networks", inviting stakeholder views on the issue by endFebruary 2009.

According to TRAI, rapid technological advancements have enabled users to access a wide selection of high quality communications, information and entertainment services. Users have now started demanding such services at affordable costs while maintaining high quality of service (QoS) standards.

In view of this demand, service providers are exploring new ways to provide value-added services (VAS) and are looking for innovations in telecom technologies. TRAI is of the opinion that converged platforms –­ commonly known as NGNs –­ will make it possible to provide various services on an internet protocol (IP) backbone. The latter supports a variety of high speed data-intensive services including IPTV, high definition TV (HDTV), video conferencing, voice over internet protocol (VOIP), instant messaging, email and other services. Migration to NGNs, however, requires substantial investments and involves the replacement of existing infrastructure with IP-based core networks.

World over, NGN has found a large number of takers. Its acceptance stems from the fact that it offers a slew of benefits –­ from lower tariffs to increased VAS and better broadband connectivity and convergence. In India, however, such migrations are still restricted due to the existing regulatory framework.

The TRAI paper states: "Unless licensing conditions and regulations are properly redefined, it will be difficult to encourage smooth migration to NGN. It has to be ensured that incentives for efficient investments are not distorted, particularly by excessive regulations." In this situation, the options before TRAI are to support investments; to encourage and support migration; or to simply wait and watch. The regulator believes that in its role as a technology advancer, it needs to analyse the various impediments before NGN and initiate appropriate action to redress these impediments in a timebound manner so that service providers interested in migrating to NGN, can do so without regulatory hurdles.

In this connection, TRAI had made recommendations to the government in March 2006. An Expert Committee on NGNs (NGN-eCO) was constituted which had representatives from the Department of Telecommunications, TRAI, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre, service providers, vendors and academic institutions. NGN-eCO deliberated on licensing, interconnection and QoS issues and submitted a final report to TRAI in 2007.

In the report, NGN-eCO emphasised the need to deliberate on these specific issues separately. It was of the opinion that this would facilitate smooth migration to NGN. The TRAI consultation paper is a follow-up to the report.

Some of the issues discussed in the consultation paper are: