Who are the “Other Service Providers” (ASPs)?
New Telecommunication Policy, 1999 (“Policy”) was introduced by the Government of India to regulate the telecommunication sector and attract investment with the development of communication infrastructure. The rules for other service providers (“SPs”) were set forth in the policy above. The terms and conditions for SPs were implemented later in February 2000 and were amended by the Telecommunications Department (“Dot License Registration”) under the Communications Department and Other Services Provider (SP) Category [1] in 2008 (the “Rules”). These rules are further amended from time to time by various amendments.
An SP company should be a company registered under the Act, 2013 or a limited liability partnership (LLP) that provides application services such as tale-banking, tale-medicine, tale-training, tale-trading, e-commerce, call. Centers, network operations centers and other IT-supported services, using a telecom resource provided by an authorized telecom service provider.
Telecommunication sources are telecommunication utilities used by Osp License Registration such as the Public Switched Telecom Network (PSTN), the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and/or Activated by Tele Activate. A valid license under the Telegraph Act, 1885. These application services are provided using telecommunication sources which are provided by the telecommunications service provider (“TSP”).
SPs are regulated by regular control licenses that are issued by the telecommunications department, which they need to obtain to receive such application services. Registration of SPs is done by the respective Telecommunication Implementation, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells as per the SP status.
There are varieties of SPs
The SPs are categorized as follows:
Domestic OSPs: OSPs provide application services within national boundaries.
International SP: SPs provide application services beyond national boundaries.
Another category of SPs is called hot sites, which are the standby SP centers used in the event of disaster/emergency situations.
Important General Terms and Conditions for Domestic and International SPs
Domestic and international SPs are required to adhere to the following general terms and conditions:
SP registration can only be done by a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013, or obtained by the LLP registered under the LLP Act, 2008 [2].
SPs are not allowed to violate the jurisdiction of any more authorized TSPs or provide replacement telephony.
Authorized TSPs should provide telecommunication resources by the SP after inspecting the network diagram of the network to be specified by the SP and ensuring its correct use. The SP is required to be submitted to the TSP-approved network diagram TERM cells.
OSPs may obtain Internet connectivity run a call center apply for call center from an authorized Internet Service Provider.
SPs are allowed to share telecom bandwidth with other activities of the same company or group of companies. However, the SP needs to ensure that there is a logical disagreement between the telecommunication sources for the SP and the telecommunications sources for their other activities. There should be no flow of traffic between them.
International SPs are not allowed to join domestic SPs.
The rules also calculate some of the terms and conditions related to domestic SPs and international SPs.
What is the processing fee?
The nominal processing fee may be paid along with the application for registration by the Registrar Authority in favor of the concerned Accounts Officer.
License eligibility
An SP registration is valid for a commencement period of 20 years from the date of issue which can be extended for the next 10 years.
Multiple SP registries
The SP registration location is specified and can be obtained at several locations.
Suspension, cancellation or termination of registration
The Department of Telecommunication has been empowered to suspend, cancel or terminate the SP registration in the public interest or the security of the State without any liability for any loss or damage whatsoever.
Sharing the Infrastructure of Infrastructure between International and Domestic SPs
Domestic SPs and international SPs are allowed to share basic infrastructure provided they belong to the same company and at least fifty (50) seats have been established in the call centers of the SP. Sharing the infrastructure is valid for a period of 3 years for the next term. Another important aspect is that EPABX should be a logical part when sharing the basic sharing infrastructure.
