Jan. 4: The telecom department is expected to allow telecom firms to offer video calls this week following a meeting between the representatives from telecom companies and the telecom ministry officials on Tuesday, said sources.
“We expect the matter to be resolved either on Wednesday or Thursday,” an official said. The home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said on Tuesday that the telecom operators can roll out 3G telephony while working on the modalities to provide monitoring facilities to the security agencies.
“We are putting in place certain mechanisms to monitor and intercept 3G services where it becomes necessary.” Mr Chidambaram also allayed fears of 3G services getting delayed. “The idea is not to interrupt or delay the 3G services. It is to allow 3G services go forward while monitoring mechanisms are put in place. So no one need fear that the 3G services will be interrupted or delayed.”
Last month the telecom ministry had asked the telcos not to offer video calls as they have not installed the facility to monitor them in real time. The contents of the video calls were displayed after 3-4 minutes of the completion of the call, instead of real-time delivery. The identity of the parties (caller or called) in video call couldn’t be distinguished in the display.
Now it seems that the impasse has been resolved and telecom firms will be able to launch all 3G services. The telecom firms are ready to install equipment for real time interception within six months.