Soon, phone landline from WhatsApp,Viber and Skype

ou may soon be able to dial landline or mobile phone numbers from popular internet apps such as Skype, WhatsApp or Viber, following clearance for inter-connect agreements between internet service providers and telecom operators by an inter-ministerial panel of the government on Monday.

The move may result in substantially lower charges for voice calls (which would be billed as per data usage), though poor quality of internet networks - a general irritant with broadband services in many parts of the country - could be a dampener.

A part from being a consumer-friendly move, the decision to allow inter-connect agreements between ISPs and telecom operators will be a shot in the arm or Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm, which will soon begin services across the country . Reliance Jio plans to offer voice over its 4G network. Following the panel's clearance, its subscribers will be able to terminate calls on the landline or mobile networks of any service provider ranging from MTNL or BSNL's fixed lines o the mobile numbers on Air el, Vodafone or Idea Cellular.

"The move has been cleared by the inter-ministerial elecom commission and groundwork to get it going will start soon," an official source said.
Sector regulator Trai had already recommended the measure to allow inter-connect for voice over internet protocol (or VoIP) services, and this had been pending with the telecom ministry .Changes will be made to licence conditions to allow inter-connection of IP (internet protocol) networks.

"The government has removed a major policy hurdle to allow interplay between internet and non-internet net works," Hemant Joshi, telecom analyst at Deloitte, said.Prashant Singhal, the telecom sector lead at Ernst & Young, said the move would have a major impact on telecom industry . "This is big...and can have a substantial impact on operator revenues.Data calls are always cheaper than voice calls."

However, the move while being beneficial for consumers may pose a challenge for security agencies. "Monitoring internet voice calls will be a big challenge and pose security risks," an industry official said, requesting anonymity. A major issue that now needs to be sorted out by Trai is to address the issue of termination charges that internet companies will need to pay to mobile operators for transferring their calls on their networks.


Trai officials have indicated that they will set inter-connection charges for internet calls after the government allows amendments to the Unified Licence framework. "Work on this will start soon and Trai will look into the matter," the official source said. Internet calling has gained substantially in traffic as data speeds get better and smartphones sales increase. While internet calling is still at an early stage in domestic calling, it is very popular for people who travel internationally.