“Comparing OTT services with voice and SMS telecom services is completely misleading and overlooks the huge and critical differences between the two categories,” Ramachandran said.
He said telecom service providers enjoy several exclusive and unique rights which include the right to interference-free spectrum, numbering resources, right of way to establish infrastructure, etc. However, OTT players do not have these privileges nor do they own the network or control access to telecom infrastructure.
Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) estimates that telecom operators have spent an additional Rs 10,000 crore in 2022-23 to support traffic generated by large entertainment and communication apps.
Telecom players have been demanding that foreign applications that generate large amounts of data traffic bear the burden of infrastructure costs based on the traffic they generate.
Telecom operators, in their latest submission to the sector regulator Trai, have unanimously demanded to include OTT applications such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram within the scope of the licensing regime under the new Telecommunications law. Trust Jio, Bharti AirtelIn their comments on the consultation paper released by Trai seeking views on the framework for service authorisations to be granted under the Telecom Act, 2023, Vodafone Idea and industry body COAI have said that calling and messaging apps should be included in the services to be provided through authorisation. “As per our understanding, OTT communication services are covered under the new Telecom Act as an access service,” telecom operators’ industry body COAI said in its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Reliance Jio said the definition of “message” and “telecommunications service” under the newly enacted Telecom Act, 2023, includes all forms of telecommunication services, including communication services provided over the line using the platform, servers or switches hosted on the public Internet.
“To ensure equal rules for the same or similar services, it is important to include such OTT communication service providers under the Access Services authorization,” Reliance Jio said.
Bharti Airtel said the Telecom Act has a broad definition of “telecommunications” which includes “any sign, signal, writing, text, image, sound, video, data stream, intelligence or information sent through telecommunications” and leaves ample room for inclusion and regulation of OTT communication services under the Act.
Airtel said that while the licence conditions ensure that communications exchanged over traditional telecom services can be monitored by law enforcement agencies, the same is not true for OTT communications services, which remain unmonitored, hampering law enforcement and crime prevention processes.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.