'Reliance Jio May Look at Acquiring VoIP Licence'

'Reliance Jio May Look at Acquiring VoIP Licence'
Advertisement
With a government panel upholding the principles of net neutrality, Reliance Jio will possibly look at acquiring a VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) licence but may not offer free calls through this route, a research note said on Friday.

Besides, international revenue of telecom operators may remain under pressure as traffic would continue to move to VoIP players who offer free calls barring nominal data charges.

"Given RJio's lack of traditional voice offering and considering that its VoLTE (4G) offering may not be mature immediately, we see a possibility that Jio may look to acquire a VoIP license," Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) said in a research note.

(Also see:  DoT's Net Neutrality Report: 9 Points That Warrant a Closer Look)

"In such a scenario, we do not see the possibility of free VoIP calls being offered," it added.

An official panel on net neutrality has proposed regulation of domestic calls on Internet-based apps like Skype, WhatsApp and Viber by putting them on par with services offered by telecom operators.

Commenting on this, BofA-ML said this is slightly positive for existing telcos like Bharti/Idea, "as cannibalisation of voice revenues from VoIP uptake will likely be slower".

According to BofA-ML, existing OTT (over the top) players like Skype, Viber, WhatsApp and Google Hangouts may give OTT license a miss as these companies are not telecom service providers and may not make an exception for one country.

"However, the home grown OTTs like Jio chat/ Hike may possibly opt to take the licence which may allow them to gain traction in the messaging space which is currently dominated by foreign OTT players," it added.

The report however noted that since VoIP traffic is difficult to monitor, the arbitrage opportunity between international VoIP and domestic VoIP may lead to increase in illegal VoIP traffic.

"VoIP traffic (whether it is domestic or international) is difficult to monitor, and the arbitrage opportunity between international VoIP and domestic VoIP may lead to increase in illegal VoIP traffic," BofA-ML added.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus Spotted at FCC
Micromax's Yu Yuphoria to Be Available Without Registration From Tuesday
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »