The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has set charges for internet-based links between telecom networks, and the TRAI IP port charges will apply from 1 January 2027. TRAI released the Telecommunication Interconnection (Port Charges) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on Monday 9 November, establishing a framework for port charges on Internet Protocol-based interconnection for the first time. The new rules are designed to modernise the interconnection regime and enable seamless communication across telecom networks.
The TRAI IP port charges set annual ceilings of 5.6 lakh rupees for a 1 Gbps IP port and 42.3 lakh rupees for a 10 Gbps IP port. The regulations allow flexibility: interconnection providers and seekers may mutually agree to charges below the prescribed ceilings, and on alternative port capacities, provided pricing remains transparent. The charges will apply uniformly across fixed-line, mobile, national long-distance and international long-distance services. The full regulations and the explanatory memorandum are available on the TRAI website.
The change fills a gap that had been open for years. The existing interconnection framework was built around legacy E1 and Time Division Multiplexing-based port technologies, and the charges under the Telecommunication Interconnection (Port Charges) Regulation, 2001 had last been revised in 2012, more than a decade ago. As Indian telecom networks moved to IP-based infrastructure, there was no regulatory benchmark for IP port charges, which created commercial uncertainty in negotiations between operators. TRAI began a review through a pre-consultation paper, aiming to keep the framework relevant, transparent and conducive to efficient interconnection.
The TRAI IP port charges were set after a review that began with a pre-consultation paper, and the regulator said it wants the framework to stay relevant, transparent and conducive to efficient interconnection between service providers. The TRAI IP port charges therefore close a gap that had lasted since 2012, when the old framework was last revised.
TRAI IP port charges and the legacy ports
The TRAI IP port charges sit alongside the older framework rather than replacing it. The definition of a port has been expanded to include both legacy E1 ports, with a capacity of 2.048 Mbps, and IP ports, with bandwidth measured in Mbps or Gbps. The existing charges will continue to apply to E1-based ports, while the new ceiling-based framework will govern IP ports. The amendment supplements the existing framework for E1 and TDM-based ports, ensuring a phased regulatory transition as operators move from legacy to IP infrastructure.
The port charges are one half of a wider overhaul. Under separate amended rules released on 3 November, which also take effect on 1 January 2027, all new links between networks must carry calls as data using IP, and the old circuit lines, called E1 links, must go within three years. Calls will change hands by default at one point, or two if both companies agree, per telecom circle, which usually covers a state or a large city. The old handover points must fall to 80% of their late-2026 traffic level by the end of 2027 and to 45% by the end of 2028, and they must close by the end of 2029. The rules carry penalties of up to 1 crore rupees per circle for each breach of the migration targets.
TRAI IP port charges and the deadlines ahead
The TRAI IP port charges carry their own enforcement. The regulations provide for a financial penalty of up to 15 lakh rupees per service area for each instance of non-compliance. The first deadline under the wider migration rules comes at the end of March 2027, when companies must jointly file a plan for each circle showing how they will close the old points and switch to IP links. The amended rules were issued under Section 11(1)(b) of the TRAI Act, 1997, which lets TRAI fix the terms of interconnection between service providers.
For phone users, the rules do not change how anyone dials a call. They change what happens behind the call, as operators move from circuit lines mapped to old STD-code areas to internet-style links handed over at circle level. The TRAI IP port charges give that move a price: a ceiling for each size of IP port, agreed rates below it where operators choose, and a three-year path off the old technology.