Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) plans to finalise its recommendations on regulation for over the top (OTT) players including WhatsApp and Skype by next month.
In an open house session on Monday on regulatory framework for OTT communications services, Trai chairman R S Sharma said the regulator will finalise, in a month, its views on whether OTT services should be brought under the regulatory ambit or not.
This was the second and final open house session on the issue, which has divided the telecom and OTT industry for many years. The first one happened in Bengaluru last month.
OTT providers are players which offer information and communication technology (ICT) services, but neither operate a network nor a lease network capacity from a network operator. Instead, they rely on the global internet and access network speeds.
The telecom industry is of the view that OTT players, offering similar services as that of telecom players, should come under regulation, mainly to address issues related to lawful interception and data privacy and localisation.
Telecom firms on Monday reiterated that some of the popular OTTs offering voice and messaging services are “perfect substitutes” to services provided by telcos and hence need to be regulated to avoid an imbalance in the sector.
The telecom industry has been complaining that such applications have led to revenue losses to them, which is why `same service same rules’ should apply on OTT platforms.
However, those in favour of OTT say such applications are already regulated under Information Technology Act (IT Act) and any further control would only stifle innovation and growth.
During the open house, Bharti Airtel’s chief regulatory officer Ravi Gandhi said the OTT communications services are perfect substitutes for services offered by telecom companies, hence same service same rules should apply.
Sandeep Verma of Reliance Jio said, “There is a part of the regulatory oversight which has to do with national security and data protection.”
"It is above the requirement of growth or innovation, because national security is in the interest of the nation. For any service provider which functionally provides similar communication services, national security and data protection law should be uniformally applicable," he said.
However, some in the industry expressed a need for a soft touch regulation by Trai on the OTT industry.
In November last year, Trai had come out with its consultation paper on OTT players. In the paper, Trai has sought public opinion on whether the same rules should be applied to OTT applications as are applied to telecom operators. This issue has been going on since 2015 when the regulator had issued a paper but did not come out with any recommendations. Subsequently, a fresh paper was issued.
Video consumption on YouTube, Netflix, etc, has been the main driver for increasing data usage in India, which was triggered by the entry of Reliance Jio in late 2016 with its 4G services. The OTT industry in India is expected to reach $5 billion by 2023 and rural areas will play a big role in OTT consumption. About 48% of India's internet users, around 650 million by 2023, are expected to be from rural areas, as per The Boston Consulting Group.
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- The telecom industry says that OTT players should come under regulation
- OTTs offering voice and messaging are substitutes to services provided by telcos
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