Tell us where we stand, ISPs demand of govt

With about half the 175 internet service provider licences due for renewal by next year and no clarity on renewal norms, the ISP Association said on Tuesday its members were all willing to switch to a Unified Access Service Licence, if the government would aid such a migration.

The ISPs had already made a presentation to telecom minister Kapil Sibal to request his help in such a process if the government did not want to continue with the current ISP regime.

"We are worried about business continuity. If the licenses are not renewed into the old structure, the customers will be affected.

The government should provide a smooth transition for these players," said Rajesh Charia, president, Internet Service Provider Association of India.

"In view of the government's decision to move to only a UASL regime, without spectrum, we want government to give us a migration path to UASL, on very low-cost entry fee," he added.

However, if the government wanted to continue the existing regime, the scope of the ISP licence should be expanded to include restricted internet telephony, in line with recent technology changes, he said.

Compared to the ISP ones, UASL licences have different terms of eligibility criteria, entry fee, licence fee and scope of services permitted.

The UASL providers had each paid Rs 1,658 crore for getting a licence, with 4.4 MHz of start-up spectrum. ISPs got their licences for up to Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) each.

Sify, Hathway and Citicable are some of the major ISPs.