(a) whether the Government has agreed to clear inter-connect agreement between Internet service providers and telecom operators;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government is aware of its consequences as monitoring internet voice calls is a big challenge and pose security risks; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the measures taken in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) As per the existing Unified License conditions with authorization for Internet service, “The Licensee shall have no connectivity with Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)/Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN)/ Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) networks in the country.”
(c) & (d) Services, permitted under the scope of License Agreement, shall be commenced by the Licensee only after prior approval of the Government. The approval is granted only when the Applicable System / Service is broadly compliant to the scope of the License and requisite monitoring facilities are successfully demonstrated by the Licensee. Thus, Licensee can provide only those services including internet Voice calls for which it has successfully demonstrated Lawful Interception Monitoring (LIM)/ Lawful Interception System (LIS) facility to the Security Agencies.
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