What is ISP License and How To Get It?

In today’s fast-paced world, the role of internet is extremely crucial. From sending email to another person to communicating with clients, friend and family, the world has become smarter like never before with the rapid penetration of internet services globally. Be it any corner of the world, if you have access to internet, several things can be done in a jiffy. From paying money to a retailer to shopping over web, internet has made our lives easier like never before. But, have you ever thing what has made internet so accessible? Nonetheless, a big credit of this revolution goes to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) whose primary job is to ensure seamless connectivity of internet to the users.

Let’s find out more about them below and how to get an ISP license in India.

What is an ISP (Internet Service Provider)?

The term “internet service provider (ISP)” means an organization that gives access to the internet for both personal as well as commercial purposes. ISPs make it possible for their customers to surf the web, shop online, conduct business, and connect with family and friends—all for a fee.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) may also offer other services like domain registration, email services, web hosting, and browser plans. There could be several other names of an ISP like an information service provider, an internet network service provider (INSP), a storage service provider, or any mix of these three services offered.

ISP License

In simple terms, an ISP license refers to a kind of approval that is given to a company to provide internet services to individuals and organizations. This license is granted and provided by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Government of India. There are certain guidelines that an applicant needs to follow while seeking an ISP license in India.

On the onset, it can be derived a company is authorized to work as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) after getting the ISP license from the concerned authority.

If you want to register yourself as an ISP, you can choose to know more about ISP registration below and take steps to get the license.

To provide all telecom-based se, only a single license, the Unified License is required. The license holders can apply for other ISP licenses in various domain under that single License. Thus, an applicant must need to get a unified license to finish ISP registration in India.

While a business can keep only one Unified License, it is possible to apply for different areas of ISP regions. When it comes to validity, though, the entire ISP region under the same license will only be valid for the same time. This means the ISP registration is valid in various areas as long as the Unified license is valid.

What are the different types of ISP licenses in India?

There are essentially three categories of ISP license – A, B, and C. These categories of ISP license in India are divided by the Department of Communication are further divided into 24 Service Regions made up of 20 Telecom Circle Service and 4 Metro Service Areas for Category “B”, 322 Secondary Switching Areas for Category “C”.  The cheapest ISP license belongs to the category C.

Category A – This license is applicable for PAN India which means the services can be provided all across the country.

Category B – Also known as State Level (Telecom Circle /Metro circle) – This ISP license is allotted for 20 major states or any of these Metro cities – Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The authority keeps notifying people with respect to the territories announced as telecom circles and metro areas at periodic intervals.

Category C – SSA (Also called Secondary Switching Area) – This ISP license is meant only for a specific secondary switching region. A secondary switching area refers to a government stated territory which could be made up of various small towns, villages, or districts. The holder of a class C ISP license will give access to any 1 specific SSA only, except he makes application for several permissions under one unified License.

On the basis of the chosen ISP license class, the necessary paperwork needs to be done and a dully filled application needs to be submitted to the DoT. Make sure that the application is error-free otherwise the approval process would be cumbersome and involve more delays and hiccups.

For better and faster outcomes, it is recommended to consult a ISP license consultant like Registrationwala.com that can help you will all aspects of ISP license from drafting the initial application to submitting it to the DoT. 

Also read:  Understanding the NBFC License Renewal Process - A Step-by-Step Guide

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.