TRAI releases draft of telecom interconnection regulation setting a deadline of 42 days for port provision between telcos

The Indian telecom regulator on Tuesday released the draft amendment of telecommunication interconnection where it has set time-frame for provisioning of ports for initial interconnection and augmentation to be increased to a maximum 42 working days. [caption id=“attachment_4263851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] The draft said a service provider may request the other service provider for additional ports at a Point of Interconnection (POI), if the projected utilisation of the capacity of such POI at the end of 60 days from the date of placing the request, is likely to be more than 85 percent and such projected utilisation of the capacity of POI shall be determined on the basis of the daily traffic for the preceding 60 days at the POI during busy hour. “Provided that the service provider shall request for such number of additional ports, which is likely to bring the utilisation of the capacity of such POI, at the end of sixty days from the date of making request, to less than 75 percent,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement. The TRAI said each service provider shall provide its forecast of busy hour outgoing traffic for each POI, at intervals of every six months, to the interconnecting service provider and the first such forecast shall be provided within 60 days of the commencement of “The Telecom Interconnection (Amendment) Regulations, 2018” and thereafter on 1 April and 1 October every year. It further added that the **port charges and infrastructure charges** for all ports provided before the 1 February 2018 shall continue to be payable as per the terms and conditions which were applicable to them before 1 February.