Any Revenue-Sharing Pact Between Telcos & OTTs Will Violate Net-Neutrality: IAMAI Tells TRAI

Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has reportedly said that any framework that ‘leads’ to revenue sharing between OTT platforms and telecom operators would be violative of net neutrality norms. 

“Any ‘collaborative framework’ which may result in establishing a revenue-sharing mechanism between OTTs and telecom service providers will violate the net neutrality framework notified by the Ministry of Communications in 2018,” said IAMAI in its submissions to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 

As per news agency PTI, the industry body also told TRAI that such revenue-sharing mechanisms would entail charging users twice for the same service as customers already pay telcos for the data tariffs. 

The submissions were filed in response to TRAI’s consultation paper on ‘Regulatory Mechanism for Over-The-Top Communication Services, and Selective Banning of OTT Services.’ 

IAMAI added that such revenue-sharing agreements could pile up costs that would eventually be passed on to the customers, thereby raising the cost of internet usage. 

Gunning for OTT platforms, the industry body noted that there was ‘no need’ for a separate licensing or regulatory framework for OTT platforms and that the current laws were ‘robust’ enough to regulate OTTs in the country. 

“Attempts to bring OTT service providers under regulations typically reserved for telecom companies fail to recognise that telecom service providers are subject to a special regulatory and licensing regime as they control valuable national resources such as spectrum. Therefore, the introduction of a telecom regulatory regime for OTT service providers would be an act of over-regulation,” IAMAI added. 

This comes months after TRAI released the consultation paper on regulating OTT communication apps in July this year. The paper sought public feedback on the identification of a regulatory mechanism to cover OTT communication apps and the examination of issues pertaining to selective bans on such apps.

The paper also explored themes that ranged from banning apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Meet to lawful interception of messages by authorities. It also invited feedback on the need for a collaborative framework between OTT communication apps and licensed telecommunication service providers and the potential challenges arising from such a plan. 

The development comes as the draft Telecom Bill, 2022, has also floated the idea of imposing licensing mandates on OTT platforms. With much at stake, it remains to be seen whether the government heeds the demands of the OTT ecosystem or sides with the telcos.