IP Telephony
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Consultation Paper on IP Telephony Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Consultation Paper on IP Telephony Document classification Public Consultation Paper 2006 Document version V03- 2nd Revision Filename IP Telephony Policy Options Version release date 1st August 2007 Present Subject Paper for Consultation with stakeholders Version Date Author Changes to previous version 01 09/02 Naseem Ahmed Modifications incorporated after internal discussion at Vohra PTA Consultant Technical PTA 02 14/03 Naseem Ahmed Modification incorporated to take IP Telephony Vohra authorization for Internet/Broadband operators out of the Consultant recommended framework Technical PTA 03 01/08 Naseem Ahmed Final Version Vohra Consultant Technical PTA Paper for consultation with stakeholders 2 Consultation Paper on IP Telephony Table of Content Executive Summary...........................................................................................................5 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................11 A. IP Telephony-Technology/Service...................................................................11 B. Advantages .......................................................................................................12 1. Cost..............................................................................................................12 2. Types ...........................................................................................................13 C. Functionality.....................................................................................................13 1. Mobility.......................................................................................................13 2. Number Portability......................................................................................13 D. Drawbacks ........................................................................................................14 1. Difficulty with sending faxes ......................................................................14 2. Internet connection requirement..................................................................14 3. Power outages..............................................................................................14 2. IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES ...................................................................15 1. Reliability....................................................................................................17 2. Quality of Service........................................................................................17 3. Emergency calls ..........................................................................................18 4. Security........................................................................................................19 5. VOIP Numbering Schemes .........................................................................19 3. IP TELEPHONY ADOPTION.................................................................................21 1. Mass-market telephony ...............................................................................21 2. Corporate and telco use ...............................................................................22 3. Click to call .................................................................................................22 4. VOIP IN NGN VALUE CHAIN..............................................................................23 1. Internet.........................................................................................................23 2. Broad-band ..................................................................................................23 3. Voice Over Internet Protocol ......................................................................24 4. Triple Play...................................................................................................25 5. Next Generation Network ...........................................................................26 5. IP TELEPHONY ISSUES........................................................................................27 1. Legal issues .................................................................................................27 2. Policy Issues................................................................................................28 3. Regulatory Issues ........................................................................................29 4. Licensing Issues ..........................................................................................30 6. IP POLICY-GLOBAL VIEW ..................................................................................33 A. Trends in VOIP Regulation..............................................................................33 B. Categories of IP Telephony Regulation ...........................................................35 1. Liberalized Approach..................................................................................35 2. Incremental Approach .................................................................................37 3. Consultative Approach................................................................................38 4. Prohibition of IP Telephony........................................................................40 C. Current Global State of VOIP Regulation........................................................41 7. CURRENT VOIP STATUS IN PAKISTAN ...........................................................44 1. Background .................................................................................................44 2. Telecommunication Law.............................................................................44 3. Regulatory Framework................................................................................45 4. PTA Mandate ..............................................................................................46 Paper for consultation with stakeholders 3 Consultation Paper on IP Telephony 5. PTA Vision..................................................................................................46 6. Telecom Market ..........................................................................................46 8. IP Telephony Offerings ............................................................................................47 Category 1 .........................................................................................................48 Category 2 .........................................................................................................48 Category 3 .........................................................................................................48 9. OPTION EVALUATION CRITERIA .....................................................................49 1. Policy Objectives and Principles.................................................................49 2. Evaluation Criteria ......................................................................................49 10. OPTION SELECTION.............................................................................................51 1. Policy Options .............................................................................................51 2. PTA Objectives ...........................................................................................52 3. Impact of the Options on the Objectives of PTA ........................................52 11. RECOMMENDED FRAMEWORK ........................................................................54 Paper for consultation with stakeholders 4 Consultation Paper on IP Telephony Executive Summary Objective: Circuit Switching is giving way to packet switching, slowly but surely. The objective of this paper is to examine the relevance of migration to packet switching in achieving the national policy objectives for the telecommunication sector in the country. Establish the role and responsibilities of various service providers in the context of public IP Telephony Offerings and probable impact thereof on penetration and cost of telecommunication for the end user. Another objective of this document is to examine the role of IP Telephony in driving (or impeding) deployment of Next Generation Networks. IP Telephony-Introduction Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VOIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband, is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network. There are quite a few implmentation challenges for IP Telephony i.e. user terminal is fed from domestic power which is prone to frequent interruptions, quality of service cannot be assured all the time, emergency calls from customers need special arrangement for propoer termination at appropriate emergency centres. With managed internet and deploymant of PSTN/IP Gateways, IP Telephony can substitute PSTN in its refined form where above problems can be addressed adequately. It can also be deployed as a cheap best effort telephony service with nomadic use. Consumer benefits stem from much lower cost of communication over IP telephony as compared to conventional telephone calls especially for international communication. IP Telephony has several characteristics and capabilities which are quite different from conventional circuit switching in many ways. Implementation of voice services over IP platform means transforming whole economic