Financial Chronicle
Regulator Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recently come up with a consultation paper inviting views from the telecom operators on FMC. According to guidelines, FMC is not permitted in India.
FMC offers services with a single phone, which could switch between networks such as Wi-Fi, fixed landline and mobile phones, enabling the best network available at the cheapest mode. The intelligent network at the backend immediately diverts the call to the available network at the lowest cost.
Nathan Bell, general manager, portfolio and partnership, Asia Pacific, British Telecom, said the company is hoping to launch FMC in parts of Asia and Europe. Bell said the trials have already started in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong.
“The Indian telecom market is emerging and there is a lot of scope for FMC,” he said. “However, at this point, the telecom guidelines do not permit us to launch this service, but once it is allowed, we are all set to offer it.
We are providing solutions for the entire system that will permit to route the calls.” To offer this service, BT requires a unified access service license (UASL). The UASL regime permits an operator to provide fixed, mobile and broadband services under a single license and offer FMC.
Bell said trials being conducted in other parts of the globe with some of the major financial institutions. He said that in the next phase, BT is targeting the launch of FMC in South Korea and Japan, followed by Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand.
“India and China are the challenging markets for us,” he said. “With the spectrum scarcity witnessed by the Indian telecos, our solution would help with the efficient use of spectrum. It can partially ease out the radio spectrum problems and revitalise the stagnant fixed telephony service. We have already started talking to large organisations in India. Financial institutions, BPOs, hospitality, campuses and IT parks are the potential sectors for this business in India.”
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