Internet telephony may not be cheap — Netravali

He said VOIP involves not only transfer of voice but also switching of voice. "VOIP can be placed on cable modems" and it is this voice over cable that will provide cheaper alternative.

Meanwhile the Indian government is mulling over the prospect of lifting the ban on Internet telephony that would render calls inland or domestic cheaper. Government sources said the Department of Telecom (DOT) has set up a special internal group headed by the deputy director general (regulation) for recommending a strategy to achieve this objective. "The recommendations will be placed before the Telecom Commission soon," an official told UNI.

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) chairman and managing director Shailendra Gupta said that his company will definitely be affected by the introduction of Net telephony but added “the march of technology cannot be stopped,”he said.

Gupta said before this revolutionary step is taken tariffs of conventional phones must be cut by at least 50 per cent. But the issue of lifting the ban on Internet telephpony is being taken up at the highest echeleons of the government, a government telecom official said.

Subscribers to India’s only ISP, the government-controlled VSNL, were banned earlier this year from using their internet connection for telephony or faxing. Subscribers who broke the rule were threatened with disconnection from the service and possible prosecution.

VSNL is also India’s monopoly national telecommunications provider, and is believed to have taken a stand against Internet telephony in response to the potential threat of its customers using the Internet to make cheaper national and international phone calls. But a number of industry experts, including the chairman of VSNL, say there is no way VSNL could detect people using the Internet for telephony, and prosecutions made against offenders probably wouldn’t stand up in court.