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The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, asking that both telecom service providers and internet service providers mandatorily connect to at least one internet exchange point. This comes after the regulator noted that while a wide distribution of internet exchange points (IXPs) is needed for the entire internet ecosystem and to encourage broadband penetration in India, the proliferation of IXPs remains poor.
However, telecom operators Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio disagreed with NIXI, stating that telecom service providers (TSPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) should be given the freedom to choose which IXP to join, and must do so on their own accord.
Private internet exchange ExtremeIX said that while it is integral for TSPs to connect with IXPs, instead of a mandate, the industry must understand why TSPs choose not to join internet exchanges. Once the issues are rectified, TSPs would naturally be induced to join.
Low proliferation of IXPs
Unlike the rest of the globe, where internet exchanges are an integral part of the internet infrastructure, telecom operators in India continue to not be reliant on internet exchanges such as NIXI, ExtremeIX and DEC-IX. In its consultation paper ,Regulatory Framework for Promoting Data Economy Through Establishment of Data Centres, Content Delivery Networks, and Interconnect Exchanges in India, TRAI noted that especially in the case of India’s national internet exchange NIXI, there has been resistance amongst service providers against joining the exchange, preferring instead to establish their peering facilities at competing exchanges, or within ISPs. As a result of this, NIXI carries less data traffic than its global counterparts. For the internet exchange ecosystem overall, the regulator noted that proliferation of IXPs still remains low, and concentrated in specific cities.
Consequently NIXI has asked the regulator that TSPs/ISPs be mandated to interconnect to at least one IXP in an LSA (link-state advertisement).
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“Peering with IXPs is expected to reduce connectivity charges and latency, which ensures a quality broadband to end consumers. IXPs also develop an internet ecosystem promoting development of various internet-related activities, thereby increasing the digital economy.”
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Telcos on the other hand remain unanimous in their argument that they should not be mandated to connect to internet exchanges.
“Interconnect choice should be given to TSPs/ISPs. While doing so, TSPs/ISPs will have flexibility to select IXP of their choice based on traffic volumes and technical and commercial factors, as well as enhancing consumer experience. The cost of encouraging IXPs at State level should not be counter subsidised through TSPs by mandating interconnection at LSA level as it will bring in inherent inefficiencies into the ecosystem,” said Vodafone Idea.
Bharti Airtel chimed in with, “We believe that there should not be any mandate to connect at exchange as it is a decision of ISP how it wants to peer with other ISPs. Presently, there is no mandate on peering arrangement between ISPs and the market has grown substantially on its own; therefore, we see no reason for any mandate on interconnecting at exchanges.”
It said that peering decisions should be driven as per operational requirements.
“While IXPs should allow non-discriminatory access to all ISPs and other players, it should also be left to ISPs to decide which IXPs they intend to join. This will create healthy competition between IXPs and allow growth of efficient IXPs,” said Jio.
Telcos resistance of a mandate to join internet exchanges is extremely important given that they (Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel) hold a sizeable chunk of the broadband consumer base.
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