International and long distance telecom markets in India are still not competitive due to higher prices and presence of regulatory restrictions, according to research advisory firm Gartner.

Prices have come down in the last two years, particularly for voice services, but they are still high compared with competitive markets, and in terms of voice quality India still has a long way to go before it matches best practices in developed countries, Gartner said.

Evaluating telecom services companies on the criteria of choice of carriers, pricing and service quality, it said for full competition, the market needs to have at least three major players, world-class service quality and very competitive pricing.

In limited competition, there are two or more major providers but competition is limited resulting in average service quality and pricing.

It said there is limited competition in both domestic long distance and international voice services. Competition exists in the international and national long distance services but choice is limited to access carriers and not the end users, thus muting the competitive environment.

The market also does not meet the full criteria for full competition as long as consumers cannot choose their international and domestic long distance carriers. Carrier access code needs to be implemented which will provide users the freedom to choose their preferred service providers.

The market will need at least three players with extensive networks to be fully competitive, Puneeth Punja, principal analyst, Gartner, said.

In data, for domestic long distance services there is limited competition in leased lines but no competition in frame relay, ATM, IP-VPN and IP transit, Gartner said.

New operators are still rolling out their network infrastructure and in addition their initial focus is on the voice because it can generate revenues immediately.

In international services, competition is beginning to emerge.

More global carriers are extending their networks via partnerships with India carriers. But prices remain high due to high revenue sharing and also international carriers face difficulties delivering end-to-end service level guarantees due to lack of control over local loop service quality, it said.