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Its 24-page reply to the Trai repeatedly harps on how its revenues would be threatened were it not allowed to use zero-rating, where content and application providers would be charged by telecom companies (telcos) to subsidise subscribers.
Updated : Mar 20, 2018, 02:01 AM IST
Industry body Assocham in its response to the consultation paper of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on net neutrality, has asked for the existing net neutrality version to be tweaked to protect telecom operators' revenues.
Its 24-page reply to the Trai repeatedly harps on how its revenues would be threatened were it not allowed to use zero-rating, where content and application providers would be charged by telecom companies (telcos) to subsidise subscribers.
"Why shouldn't telecom operators protect their revenues and profitability? In India, voice revenue still constitutes more than 80% of telecom operators' revenues. While it is true that telecom operators earn handsomely from data consumption of streaming/OTT (over the top) services, the incremental threat of sudden disruption to the 80% plus of revenue can be greater than the incremental revenue accrual from data consumption," the Assocham argues in its response.
T V Ramachandran, chairman of the Assocham National Council on Telecom, said following the heavy costs incurred by telcos for acquiring spectrum, they did not want to pass on its cost to consumers by hiking charges.
"Why should the charges go up for everybody? It is like asking the juggi dwellers to subsidise Lutyen's Delhi. While I am against discrimination, I am all for differential charges," said Ramachandran. Telcos, which recently participated in an auction to buy over Rs one lakh crore of airwaves, have been claiming their revenues could get dramatically hit if tariff are not raised.
The Assocham's note goes ahead to say that the westernised version of net neutrality would also "damage India's vision of Digital India". "It would be retrograde for India's economic development and harmful to our citizens' welfare to impose a westernised version of net neutrality and thereby damage our vision of Digital India. The urgent need of the hour is an Indian version of net neutrality," writes the industry lobby body to the Trai.
It further said with low level of digital connectivity especially outside the urban areas, low purchasing power and extremely price sensitive market, India needed to have a country-specific net neutrality.
Nikhil Pahwa, editor and publisher of MediaNama, who has been rallying for net neutrality, said it was disappointing to see that Assocham has taken a view in support of a handful telecos and ignored a host of internet start-ups and innovators who are likely to get negatively impacted.
"If we have an Indian version of net neutrality then each telecom company will have its own version of it. It will lead to inferior consumer experience and regulations that are anti-start-up and innovation," he said.
Pahwa said zero rating was negative for start-ups because it increased their cost of innovation significantly and pitted them unfairly against their established competitors. He refuted claims of telecom operators that their revenues will be hit if the net neutrality was not allowed to be tinkered with.
"Their (telcos) data revenue is growing significantly. There is no real challenge to their revenue," said Pahwa.