COAI Calls Claims Of ‘Usage Fee’ For OTTs Violating Net Neutrality Misleading

Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that the demand of telecom operators for a reasonable ‘usage fee’ from OTT Communication service providers is ‘fair and rational’. The body’s comments have come on the back of the ongoing telco-OTT revenue sharing debate.

Usage fee would aid in developing the country’s digital infrastructure while contributing to the economy, COAI said in a statement.

“Certain entities with vested interests are misdirecting the issue of the need for a regulatory framework for the communication OTTs and the need of usage charge to be paid by OTTs to the TSPs, by bringing in the aspect of Net Neutrality in a misleading manner, to make it a populist issue,” Dr S.P. Kochhar, director general, COAI, said.

The statement comes a few days after the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) opposed the idea of a revenue sharing model between OTT players and telecom players. The IAMAI said that the demand for a revenue sharing model is a ‘covert attempt’ to dilute net neutrality in India.

The IAMAI also said that the revenue sharing model would also be a death knell for the digital economy and the creative ecosystem which it sustains.

COAI in its statement noted that the net neutrality pertains to non-discriminatory treatment of content which has no connection to the usage fee issue. Telecom Service Providers are committed to follow the Net Neutrality Principles, as per their licence conditions, it reiterated.

“The proposed usage charge is to justly meet the funding requirements for creating a robust telecom infrastructure in India, increased revenue for the exchequer, and continued innovation,” COAI said.

What COAI Wanted On Network Usage Charge?

Earlier, it was proposed that OTT communication services should pay a network usage charge to the concerned TSP for the actual traffic carried by these OTTs on TSPs’ network based on measurable usage.

In its statement, COAI also highlighted the European Commission’s recent commitment in the Digital Decade Declaration to develop adequate frameworks so that all market players benefiting from the digital transformation make a fair and proportionate contribution to the costs of public goods, services and infrastructures.

The verbal fight between two industry bodies started after it was reported that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is trying to work out some form of a revenue-sharing mechanism between social media intermediaries including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, along with OTT players Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar and the TSPs.

The COAI in November also called for levying a ‘usage tax’ for the traffic carried by the OTT players on telecom networks.

It is pertinent to note that the government also introduced the much awaited draft Telecommunication Bill, 2022 last year to replace the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and the Telegraph Wires Act, 1950, as well as to overhaul the existing norms and frameworks around OTT and telecom space.