Bandwidth resellers are companies, which do not own any infrastructure, but buy capacity from large international long distance service providers like VSNL or AT&T and then resell it to consumers like business process outsourcing units.

The move will benefit larger consumers of bandwidth such as ITeS companies, BPOs and Internet service providers who will be able to buy bandwidth from the resellers at much lower costs.

It will also benefit IT services companies as they will be able to expand their product portfolio by bundling international leased lines along with the services that they offer to their customers. ILD operators who can now ride on the resellers to increase their reach apart from getting assured business will also benefit.

TRAI has imposed an annual licence fee of 6 per cent of the revenues earned by the resellers in a bid to level the playing field with ILD operators. The regulator has also set an entry fee of Rs1 crore for taking the licence for reselling.