Airtel to charge for VoIP calls

Kl@w-24

Slideshow Bob
but you can't really do anything about it. telecom operators are for maximum profit. don't give a sh1t about net neutrality. and politicians are better of getting money from telecom ops than getting your vote, i.e the vote of internet users, too less to bother.

At what point do their profit-making tactics become downright nasty and unethical? If this attempt to charge separately for VoIP services is allowed to bear fruit, who knows what they'll charge for next? Tomorrow some idiot might turn up and demand extra fees for emails, a separate plan for messaging services and so on. It's better to nip this in the bud, than to let it grow into a noose around our collective necks.
 

a_k_s_h_a_y

Dreaming
At what point do their profit-making tactics become downright nasty and unethical? If this attempt to charge separately for VoIP services is allowed to bear fruit, who knows what they'll charge for next? Tomorrow some idiot might turn up and demand extra fees for emails, a separate plan for messaging services and so on. It's better to nip this in the bud, than to let it grow into a noose around our collective necks.

It only starts to matter when heavy weights like Google lobby. But in India I don't think that's going to happen. I don't see how this affects Infosys or TCS. Only then it will matter.

Politicians or Government : If you don't have money to win elections then GTFO.
 

swatkats

The TroubleShooter!
Airtel: “Over the last twenty years, we have invested over Rs. 140, 000 crores in rolling out telecommunications services in every nook and corner of the country. In addition, we have paid over Rs. 50, 000 crore in terms of government levies in just 5 years. “

In just the last two and a half years, Airtel has earned Rs 141,545 crore in revenues, and Rs 16,211 crore in profit. Over 20 years, they’ve substantially made more money, which is great return on their investment. They’ve invested for the return they’ve gotten.


A response to Airtel’s justification of its net neutrality violation - MediaNama
 

kkn13

Cyber Genius FTW
At what point do their profit-making tactics become downright nasty and unethical? If this attempt to charge separately for VoIP services is allowed to bear fruit, who knows what they'll charge for next? Tomorrow some idiot might turn up and demand extra fees for emails, a separate plan for messaging services and so on. It's better to nip this in the bud, than to let it grow into a noose around our collective necks.

exactly itll be a blackberry BIS plan situation all over again except the blackberry ones were unlimited and included everything except calls but for some people it was still a disadvantage

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does this only apply for prepaid users?
 
P

paroh

Guest
Airtel move to charge VoIP calls not illegal: TRAI chief Rahul Khullar | The Indian Express


The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman, Rahul Khullar does not see any illegality in Bharti Airtel’s move to charge customers a higher rate for making voice calls from its network using apps like Skype, Viber etc than what it charges for surfing.

In an exclusive interview, Khullar, while agreeing that the move is against the principle of net neutrality, said that so far there is no policy or regulatory framework in the country which says that net neutrality should be maintained.

“Let’s be clear on this. What the company plans to do is certainly not in conformity with net neutrality. But one cannot say the move is illegal today as there is no policy either by the government that net neutrality is our principle or a regulatory framework put in place by the regulator,” Khullar said.

However, going ahead, the Trai will bring the over-the-top (OTT) players like Viber, Skype etc under some sort of regulations and is in the process of bringing out a consultation paper on the subject.

“If the telecom players fall under a set of rules, then should not the OTT players be also brought under some kind of rules? Otherwise there would be a non-level playing field,” he said.

Net neutrality means that a consumer has access to all forms of content in a similar manner and not in a way where a service provider slows or fastens the speed depending on whether the site has paid for it or not.

Pointing out the ways the OTT players could be brought under regulation, Khullar said that there could be licensing norms wherein they have to pay licence fee to the government on a revenue share basis. The other option, which is simpler is that a termination charge is put on calls originating from Skype-like services.

In the first scenario, the OTT players would be brought under a licensing regime similar to mobile operators where an entry fee would have to be paid followed by revenue share licence fee as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue. There are globally examples of such a practice, for instance in France. The moment this happens the services of OTT players would not come for free and a level-playing field would emerge.

However, in this scenario only the communication aspects should be brought under regulation and not the commerce side, he said. This means a service like Viber, Skype or Whatsapp, which are used for communication, would be regulated but commercial services like Facebook which are advertisement driven would be left out. This is how the European nations have tackled the issue.

In the second scenario, the principle of termination charge can be levied on the OTT players offering voice calls. “The good thing here would be that there would be no need for pricing the data packs differently for voice and data and since every operator has a smart network which can identify voice calls made over the net, he can bill the originating party a termination charge,” Khullar said.
 

Superayush

Tech lover
Thing is in case these carriers turn tryant and start charging separately for social apps like fb and whatsapp ...what will we do? What can we do? A total blackout boycott will be required but then will everyone support this movement ,things need to get worst before they get better....I see trouble times ahead unless we are ready for the waves,for the net neutrality we shall stand together !
 

$hadow

Geek in making
TRAI will also not look into this I guess. Airtel is making a lot of sense as far as legal area in concerned.
 
TRAI will also not look into this I guess. Airtel is making a lot of sense as far as legal area in concerned.

This tax collection problem is a global problem and recently EU also announced that it will be making new laws to handle this. Maybe India will also come with similar laws?
 

kkn13

Cyber Genius FTW
if they really wanted to make this charging for VOIP logical ,they should have made internet browsing free and charge for VOIP only ,that sounds better
here they will charge us for 3G plans and over that we are expected to pay even more for VOIP-completely illogical and goes against net neutrality
 

ssdivisiongermany1933

Still in war with allies
‪#‎airtel‬ drops plans to charge extra for internet voice calls via ‪#‎skype‬ ‪#‎viber‬

uckling under pressure, leading telecom player Bharti Airtel has dropped its plans to charge extra for internet voice calls or VoIP service available through apps like Skype and Viber.

“In view of the news reports that a consultation paper will be issued shortly by TRAI on issues relating to services offered by OTT (over the top content) players, including VoIP, we have decided not to implement our proposed launch of VoIP packs,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement on Monday.

The operator had earlier decided to charge VoIP calls on pay as you go basis, at standard data rates of 4 paise per 10 KB on 3G network and 10 paise per 10 KB on 2G network.

Besides, it had also announced special VoIP packs. “We have no doubt that as a result of the consultation process a balanced outcome would emerge that would not only protect the interests of all stakeholders and viability of this important sector but would also encourage much needed investments in spectrum and roll out of data networks to fulfil the objective of digital India,” Airtel said.

The government had earlier said it would look into the company’s plans to charge for such services, which have been free, while Airtel has been facing a huge public outcry on social media networks for past few days.

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*www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/airtel-will-not-charge-extra-for-internet-voice-calls-via-skype-viber/article6735030.ece?homepage=true
 

swatkats

The TroubleShooter!
Bharti Airtel has issued a statement that it is withdrawing the launch of its VoIP packs, given that the TRAI has issued a statement that it will issue a consultation paper on issues relating to “services offered by OTT players including VOIP.” Airtel’s statement:


“We have no doubt that as a result of the consultation process a balanced outcome would emerge that would not only protect the interests of all stakeholders and viability of this important sector but would also encourage much needed investments in spectrum and roll out of data networks to fulfill the objective of digital India,” said the company.

Effectively, Airtel forced the TRAI’s hand: It instituted a pack that violated net neutrality, thereby, following the criticism and outrage, ensuring that the TRAI Chairman, Rahul Khullar announced a consultation process. Remember that Khullar said that Airtel’s action is not illegal, since there is no law preventing violation of Net Neutrality.

We’ve already questions TRAI’s predisposition, and a TRAI recommendation, post consultation, if it allows interconnection charges or differential pricing, will only legitimize Airtel’s actions. Then, Airtel could bring back the packs, and say that the law allows it.


So,
*i.imgur.com/3edHbSO.png


Well played.
Things to remember:


1. Airtel hasn’t withdrawn the VoIP packs because of consumer outrage. It’s withdrawn the pack because of the impending TRAI consultation.

2. As Airtel points out, the consultation will not just cover VoIP, but also other OTT services. As per a COAI paper, these services include Instant Messaging (IM), Applications (Apps), Cloud Services, Internet Television, IPTV, M2M – Machine to Machine (M2M) communications, Social Networking, apart from VoIP.


3. The TRAI, as we explained, appears predisposed towards a regulation of online services, and we’re not sure if we can expect a neutral consultation from the TRAI.



Source: Airtel withdraws VoIP charges for now, after forcing TRAI’s hand on net neutrality consultation - MediaNama
 

swatkats

The TroubleShooter!
:confused: im still a bit confused,are they implementing it or no finally? i hope not

They have Introduced charges on VoIP recently knowing there is no rule that restricts them doing So. Since TRAI chairman gave a statement after that That they would need to have consultation on this and several other issues through which Telecom operators are loosing Revenue, Airtel saw this as advantage. Now they want to Escape the criticism and Say What they are doing is completely Legal and Allowed.

TRAI's Chairman statement was like Whatever you want to do. Please do it according to Rules. Let's make One.

Stop Wondering now.
 

kkn13

Cyber Genius FTW
They have Introduced charges on VoIP recently knowing there is no rule that restricts them doing So. Since TRAI chairman gave a statement after that That they would need to have consultation on this and several other issues through which Telecom operators are loosing Revenue, Airtel saw this as advantage. Now they want to Escape the criticism and Say What they are doing is completely Legal and Allowed.

TRAI's Chairman statement was like Whatever you want to do. Please do it according to Rules. Let's make One.

Stop Wondering now.

ohh thanks for your explaination,got it now
 
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