HLC on banking to align financial sector growth to Viksit Bharat (See 'Corp Brief') Infra Risk Guarantee Fund to instil confidence in private developers (See 'Corp Brief') Shares buyback to be taxed as capital gains for all categories of shareholders (See 'Corp Brief') IIFT achieves 1st Position in Times B-School Ranking 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') Centre to enable States to establish regional medical hubs for tourism (See 'Corp Brief') Budget lays emphasis on scaling up manufacturing in 7 strategic sectors (See 'Corp Brief') Competition Act - intervention of CCI not warranted where allegations contained in Information are vague, sweeping & unsupported by material particulars necessary to establish contravention of Sections 3 or 4 of the Act: CCI (See 'Legal Desk') Interest accrued on motor accident compensation will no longer attract TDS (See 'Corp Brief') FM proposes uniform MAT Treatment for non-resident opting for Presumptive Tax (See 'Corp Brief') Tax certainty for non-resident individuals (See 'Corp Brief') Govt. revised criteria for Inter-Group loan exclusion from 'Dividend' definition (See 'Corp Brief') FDI Limit in Insurance Sector raised to 100%, subject to full domestic investment of premiums (See 'Corp Brief') Govt to facilitate ICAI, ICSI, ICMAI to run short-term know-how courses for youth (See 'Corp Brief') Government to set up 'BharatTradeNet' as Unified Digital Platform for international trade (See 'Corp Brief') Sovereign Gold Bond Capital Gains exemption to apply only to original holders at maturity (See 'Corp Brief') CSIR-NIO's Vizag Centre to play key role in offshore energy: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') FEMA - Statement recorded u/s 37 of FEMA did not amount to confession of criminal offence: HC (See 'Legal Desk') International Olympic Academy Director impressed by India's vision for sports (See 'Corp Brief') WB ranks India among top 5 in terms of private investment in infra (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - In absence of explicit permission/exemption with respect to RFQ requirements, Noticee should have suspended its services if it was not feasible to engage large amounts of funds into working capital: SEBI (See 'Legal Desk') Survey: India should focus on application-based AI tools (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - NCLT can't decide title disputes over assets, including IPRs such as trademarks, unless they have direct & proximate nexus with insolvency resolution process: SC (See 'Legal Desk') UNCTAD ranks India as leading economy in trade partner diversification (See 'Corp Brief') The Securities Markets Code, 2025: Strengthened Enforcement, Weakened Accountability? (See 'CORP EINSICHT')

TRAI releases recommendations on Connectivity to Access Service VNOs

Published: Sep 16, 2024

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, SEP 16, 2024: THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its Recommendations on the Connectivity to Access Service VNOs From More Than one NSO.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT), through its letter dated 07.07.2023 on the subject - 'Connectivity to Access Service VNOs from more than one NSO', sought recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India under Section 11(1)(a) of the TRAI Act, 1997.

 In this regard, TRAI initiated a Consultation Paper on 'Connectivity to Access Service VNOs from more than one NSO' on 23.02.2024 for soliciting the comments and counter-comments of stakeholders. Comments were received from nine stakeholders and counter comments were received from four stakeholders. An Open House Discussion on the consultation paper was convened on 08.05.2024.

Based on the comments received from stakeholders and on its own analysis, TRAI has finalized its Recommendations on the Connectivity to Access Service VNOs from more than one NSO.

In the year 2016, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) introduced the regime of Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) in India. VNOs are treated as an extension of Network Service Operators (NSOs). VNOs can provide telecommunication services after obtaining telecommunication network resources from NSOs as per their mutual agreement.

As per the extant licensing regime in the country, VNOs are allowed to have agreements with more than one NSO for all services other than Access Service and such services which need numbering and unique identity of the customer. Through these recommendations, the Authority has recommended that there should be no cap on the number of Network Service Operators (NSOs) from whom an Access Service Virtual Network Operator (VNO) can take connectivity for providing wireline access service in a Licensed Service Area (LSA).

Through these recommendations, the Authority has also recommended that An Access Service VNO, intending to provide both wireless and wireline access services in an LSA, should be permitted to take connectivity from one NSO for wireless access service and other NSO(s) for wireline access service in the LSA. This flexibility should be given in addition to the extant regime under which an Access Service VNO, intending to provide both wireline and wireless access services in an LSA, is permitted to take connectivity for both wireline and wireless access services from the same NSO in the LSA.

The Authority is of the view that the implementation of these recommendations would give a boost to the quality of service of wireline access services in the country. It would also provide a flexibility to Access Service VNOs to obtain connectivity for wireless access service and wireline access service from different NSOs. This would enable Access Service VNOs to provide better service offerings to telecom consumers in the country.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES