New Delhi, Aug 29: In an effort to protect the sustainability of smaller standalone internet operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today mandated basic service providers to give infrastructure facilities to all Internet service providers in a non-discriminatory manner. "This implies that there can be no discrimination by the basic service providers in the commercial arrangements offered to other Internet service providers vis-a-vis their own ISP operations," a TRAI statement said here.
The move is aimed at protecting the sustainability of standalone smaller ISPs and to maintain level playing field amongst ISPs.
TRAI has also clarified that any revenues paid to ISPs as a result of such a mutual commercial arrangement, is not to be treated as a pass-through revenues and will count towards estimation of licence fee payable by the basic service operators, it added. Bureau Report