The Legal 500

Certain important legal developments and case laws in this area are set out below.

Recommendations on Foreign Investment in Broadcasting Sector

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) had issued recommendations on foreign investment in broadcasting sector, wherein it proposes to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”)  limit for teleport (hub), Direct to Home (“DTH”), Headend in the Sky (“HITS”), Multiple System Operators (“MSOs”) operating at National or state level, FM radio and Mobile TV. However, in case of Local Cable Operators (“LCOs”) TRAI had proposed to reduce the subsisting FDI limit from 49 % to 26%. No changes have been recommended in down linking of TV channels and uplinking of TV news and non-news and current affairs channels.

The Department of Telecommunications (“DoT”) has recently announced guidelines on reselling of IPLC and grant of Resale of IPLC License under Sec. 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. Below is the gist of guidelines on ‘Resale of IPLC’:

Recommendations on Mobile Virtual Network Operator (“MVNO”) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) has issued recommendations on MVNO enabling the introduction of MVNOs in India.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) Determines Final Phasing out of Access Deficit Charge (“ADC”) TRAI has recently issued the ninth amendment to the Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) regulation which deals, among other things, with the ADC payable by private service providers to the incumbent Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (“BSNL”).

The TRAI has forwarded its recommendations on the new licensing terms and conditions for various telecom licenses. The recommendations are directed towards creating a more competitive and liberalized market for unified access service licensees. Some of the recommendations are as follows:

Revised guidelines for access to Cable Landing Stations

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) has issued revised guidelines for access to Cable Landing Stations to all eligible international telecommunication entities.

Directive to Curb Illegal Use of Internet Telephony In a bid to clamp down what is termed as “illegal” use of internet telephony, the government has directed Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to stop providing bandwidth or all internet related services to call centres and BPOs which are not registered with the Department of Telecommunications (“DoT”).

Certain important and recent enactments and legal developments in this area are set out below.

Certain important and recent legal developments in this segment are set out below.

Background

As global organizations strive to improve the quality of their processes while managing their bottom lines, Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO" or "Outsourcing" or "Offshoring") has become the new imperative. In the recent past, India has emerged as one of the most preferred BPO destinations of the world. Currently, the BPO industry in India is at the second stage of its operations. The initial stage, in the late 1980's and 1990's was marked by the setting up of captive operations in India by giant multinational corporations ("MNC") like American Express and GE. Now in the second stage, independent third-party operations are emerging out of the shadow of the more visible, captive MNC units. The USD 2.3 Billion BPO segment is growing impressively in India and at current growth rates, it is matching up with the Information Technology ("IT") industry. The most cogent reason for Outsourcing is to reduce or control operating costs. Corporate giants in the U.S., Europe and Japan are increasingly looking towards India as a preferred destination in terms of cost-effectiveness and high quality performance in Outsourced operations.

Certain important and recent legal developments in this segment (including policy changes, case law and legislative amendments) are set out below.