joshua sahala [13/11/04 19:40 -0500]:
i've also heard of satellite links being used to bypass the filtering...a cheap local phone (or six) can be kept hidden from the authorities for as long as the bribes are paid and/or it doesn't cut too deeply into the ptt's monopoly
Goes on all the time .. just about every "call Asia cheap" phone card you find at ethnic grocery stores stateside uses one of these ... Another way to get cheaper international calls below - that's hitting the headlines in India. Not VOIP based though. Basically - terminating international calls in India, and then changing the CLI on the call to show the call as a local call, saving on settlement charges. BSNL operates most of the fixed line phones in India, and is a government owned telco. Reliance, besides being one of India's largest petrochemical companies, is also a facilities based CLEC, with a rather popular CDMA mobile phone service, and as they now own FLAG, they're an ISP as well ... Two articles should help ... http://sify.com/finance/equity/quarterly_results/fullstory.php?id=13594309 BSNL slaps notice on Reliance Infocomm Wednesday, 20 October , 2004, 14:36 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has said that Reliance Infocomm has to pay more than Rs 120 crore for allegedly routing illegal telephone calls as local calls and slapped recovery notices to the private telecom operator. ''We have issued recovery notices to the company,'' BSNL CMD A K Sinha said. Talking to UNI, Sinha said the amount due would be more than Rs 120 crore. Sinha said Reliance had paid Rs 58 crore as an ''interim arrangement'' to the state-owned company. BSNL had issued the Ambani-owned company a deadline till October 14 to make the payment or face disconnection of points of interconnections (PoIs). Sinha said at 125 PoIs with Reliance, ILD calls were made to look as local or STD calls. Reliance has about 400 PoIs with BSNL. BSNL had alleged that Reliance had tampered with the calling line identification (CLI). He said the recoverable amount from Reliance could amount to over 120 crore, based on methodology in network interconnect agreements phone firms sign with one another so that Reliance subscribers, for instance, can talk to subscribers of other operators like Airtel or BSNL/MTNL and vice versa. These agreements entail payments to one another as IUC, and a payment to BSNL as ADC, paid by private telecom firms, cellular landline or ISD services. ISD operators have to pay Rs 4.25 per minute as ADC (access deficit charge) to BSNL for carrying calls on its nationwide STD network. For local and STD traffic, rates are less about 30 paise to Rs 1.10 a minute. Reliance, as an ISD operator, saves crores of rupees by passing off international calls as local or STD calls. While BSNL has been crying foul saying Reliance's move was a case of illegal termination of incoming ISD calls, Reliance officials maintain affair was no more than a commercial dispute between two operators and a matter of interpretation of rules. Reliance officials are believed to have taken stand that whole thing was a part of its ''home country direct service'', something on lines of a collect call operation. BSNL maintains that such a service requires a tripartite agreement, which should include it besides Reliance and foreign operator(s) and that has not been the case. As ILD operator, Reliance has a firm in US. Therefore, it has been able to bring all its international calls as ISD service provider to its three international gateways in the country, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and from there on changing global CLI into local/STD number. A Reliance spokesperson said so far none of the services have been affected. ----------------- and the aftermath ... http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/Technology/1aaed735-28d4-4b08-89f... Reliance gets stay on BSNL blackout Business Standard New Delhi, Nov 6: A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has asked Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to maintain status quo on the interconnect agreement with Reliance Infocomm. The matter will be taken up for hearing on November 30. The Division Bench, comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Anil Kumar, also directed Reliance Infocomm to deposit Rs 40 crore with BSNL by Monday as an interim payment. [INR 40 crore - INR 400 million - ~ 9 million USD --srs] The Division Bench was hearing an appeal by Reliance Infocomm against Thursday's order by a single-judge Bench dismissing its petition seeking to stop disconnection by BSNL for violating the interconnect agreement between the two. It asked BSNL to file its reply to the private telecom operator's appeal and posted the matter for further hearing on November 30. The court also directed Reliance to file an affidavit confirming that it had stopped misrouting of international calls as local calls into the BSNL network. When contacted, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director AK Sinha Sinha said, "We will abide by the court order. We will examine the court judgment and then decide our next course of action." A BSNL official said Reliance continued with its misrouting even in October though it had given an undertaking saying it had stopped such activities from September 16, 2004. BSNL on Thursday disconnected some points of interconnections in Bangalore and Nasik. "This connection was due to some other dispute in payments," an official said. In its first media statement, Reliance today said, " We had filed an appeal before the Division Bench of Delhi High Court against the order of single judge refusing interim relief. The division bench of Delhi High Court has directed BSNL to maintain status-quo and directed Reliance to deposit a further amount of Rs 40 crores. The matter is sub-judice." The private operator had approached the court saying that BSNL should be restrained from disconnecting the points of interconnections as it would cause troubles for its 9 million subscribers. The single judge court had dismissed Reliance's petition saying the manner in which the private operator had conducted its business activities was in dishonest breach of interconnect agreement. Reliance had also appealed for the appointment of arbitrators by the two parties to settle the dues, which the court rejected. The private operator had said that the Home Country Direct service (HCDS) started by it in the US five months ago should be treated differently from the general international long distance calls. In case of ILD calls, the private operator has to pay BSNL Rs 4.25 a minute as access deficit charge for every call terminated in to the latter's network. Reliance said that the HCDS calls should attract the access deficit charge paid in case of a local call as per the interconnection agreement. It claimed HCD was in line with the prevailing international practice and also satisfied the norms set by the International Telecom Union (ITU). In its letter to BSNL, Reliance had proposed the appointment of former Chief Justice of India Justice SP Bharucha as the arbitrator on its behalf. The private operator had also claimed that the total relevant access deficit charges for the traffic terminated on BSNL network as well as other private operators, amounted to Rs 29 crore, which it had already paid to BSNL.