The Intelecon Research VoIP Seminar
outlines current developments in VoIP regulation and technology, and is designed to assist governments in evolving appropriate regulatory frameworks. It has been developed with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency.

The Seminar was developed for India, where the sessions were used to validate and reinforce the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s strategy for opening up the VoIP market.

If you are interested in a similar VoIP Seminar tailored to your needs, please contact Andrew Dymond at adymond@inteleconresearch.com.

Background and Scope
Intelecon Research & Consultancy Ltd. was retained by the Canadian International Development Agency to present a seminar/workshop to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) exploring issues surrounding development of a policy and appropriate regulation related to Internet Telephony in India. 

TRAI had issued a “Consultation Paper on Introduction of Internet Telephony” prior to the seminar. Intelecon’s task was to review the Consultation Paper, review written stakeholder comments on the Consultation Paper and prepare seminar/workshop presentations that addressed the topics, issues and concerns identified in the process in the context of IP telephony policies and practices throughout the world.

The seminar and subsequent consultations were held over a period of 5 days and included separate policy and technical sessions with the senior TRAI management who wished to fully understand the implications of potential market developments, protocol trends and Quality of Service issues on the proposed regulatory strategy. Working with Intelecon on the technical side was Paul Childs (pchilds@inteleconresearch.com), from our associates Planetworks Corp.

Seminar Content
Intelecon carried out independent research from various sources and summarised trends and experience of regulators around the world. This was combined with a review by the firm’s research and technical staff into consumer market and technology supplier issues. The seminar section headings were as follows:

• Introduction
• Objectives
• Definitions
• Big picture
• Technology
  • the rise of internet telephony standards
  • Quality of Service (qos)
  • methods of traffic management for VoIP networks
  • VoIP and VoI monitoring and measuring tools
  • security
  • costs
• Consumer Market
  • observations on the rise in world demand
  • segments
  • prices
  • services
  • consumer marketplace examples
• Supplier Market
  • trends
  • supplier definitions and examples
  • supplier adoption of standards
• Role of Government
  • international trends on regulation of internet telephony
  • overview of some country examples
  • issues related to definition of internet telephony
  • quality of service, monitoring and numbering
  • tariffs, rate rebalancing & accounting rates
  • impact of internet telephony on rural telecommunications
  • convergence
  • implications of issues on level playing field
  • effect of competitive framework on emerging technologies
  • threats and opportunities