Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had kicked off its much-anticipated session course of on the query of regulating over-the-top (OTT) apps corresponding to WhatsApp, Telegram and Sign which pits the app makers and the startup group towards telcos on July 7.
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In its submission to the paper titled ‘Regulatory Mechanism for Over-The-Prime (OTT) Communication Companies and Selective Banning of OTT Companies’, the Web and Cellular Affiliation of India (IAMAI) stated any “collaborative framework” which can lead to establishing a revenue-sharing mechanism between OTTs and telecom service suppliers (TSPs) will violate the online neutrality framework notified by the ministry of communications in 2018.
It noticed that the pending new telecom invoice additionally floats the thought of bringing OTT companies underneath the ambit of telecom licenses.
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“Such calls for are primarily based on the faulty notion that OTT service suppliers eat bandwidth and disrespect the truth that not OTT gamers however customers themselves independently transact and buy information from TSPs,” IAMAI stated in an announcement. “Furthermore, revenue-sharing mechanisms would basically imply charging twice for a similar service as customers already pay TSPs for the info they eat.”
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The business physique stated that in any situation, the quantity of knowledge consumed – and the resultant ‘strain’ placed on the infrastructure of telecom service suppliers (TSP) – is immediately depending on the quantity of knowledge bought by telecom firms to customers. It made a case that implementing revenue-sharing mechanisms would additionally imply including a value to accessing free or low cost content material, which can ultimately be handed onto customers, thus elevating the price of web utilization.
Client Unity & Belief Society (CUTS) additionally highlighted this level in its submission to TRAI, saying that one of many dangers with the proposed cost-sharing framework between OTT gamers and telcos is differential pricing for various units of customers.
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“This may impair the selection accessible to customers for accessing companies they need,” it acknowledged. “There’s a substantial threat of elevated value to customers if OTTs are required to share infrastructure value, and may they want to move on the identical, by imposing a utilization price on OTT companies. The customers will face double whammy of paying the TSPs for entry to broadband and to the OTT suppliers for entry to content material.”
CUTS stated there was a chance of decrease high quality of companies and elevated latency, in addition to potential impact of rise in information costs in India if the proposed framework of regulation of OTT companies is carried out.
Echoing the sentiment of IAMAI, CUTS stated there was additionally the chance of web fragmentation and a risk to net-neutrality whereas additionally presumably resulting in a chilling impact on funding and entrepreneurship on an rising sector.
However telcos have for lengthy demanded that communication apps be regulated as they provide comparable companies with out the safety and monetary obligations hooked up to a licensee. OTT gamers have argued they’re already regulated underneath the IT Act and extra guidelines will solely stifle innovation.
In its paper, TRAI has listed 14 factors. These embrace the definition of OTTs, OTT communications companies, classification of OTT companies, elements of OTT communication companies vis-à-vis telecom companies. In the event that they have to be regulated, what needs to be the framework to cowl lawful interception, privateness, safety, unsolicited business communication, licence charges and so forth., Trai requested.
TRAI desires to find out if there’s a want for a collaborative framework between OTT companies and licensed telcos. But when this impacts web neutrality, the regulator had stated it wished to know what measures needs to be taken to deal with that. The regulator additionally sought views about technical options to mitigate the challenges that may include the selective banning of apps.
