TRAI moves telecom interconnection to the service-area level and makes new links IP-based

3 November 2026

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued the Telecommunication Interconnection (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, after a review of its interconnection rules of 2018.
Interconnection is the arrangement by which a call from one operator's network reaches a customer of another.
Until now the points where networks met were fixed at the level of small local areas; operators may now agree on them at the level of a Licensed Service Area, and existing traffic is to shift over three years.
Every new interconnection after the rules take effect must be IP-based, and old circuit-switched links must also be converted in phases over three years.
A new framework lets an operator give up a point of interconnection voluntarily, which is different from disconnection in a dispute.
The gap between reassessments of bank guarantees, and their validity after reassessment, go up from six months to twelve.
Interest on late interconnection payments may be agreed between operators but cannot exceed the State Bank of India's one-year MCLR plus two percentage points.
The regulations come into force on 1 January 2027.