Draft Telecom Bill: Cloud Telephony Players Back Regulations For OTT Communication Apps

The cloud telephony players in the country have backed the government’s proposal in the draft telecommunications bill to regulate OTT communication services such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram and the requirement for a licence for these players to operate.

The cloud telephony players are of the view that regulations are needed to ensure end-user protection and national security, Financial Express reported.

The players cited the need for a level-playing field as the reason for supporting the government’s move. While the cloud telephony players need to obtain a number of licences to offer services, OTT communication providers are not regulated by the government and operate without any licence.

Cloud-based telephony service allows making calls over the internet. While traditional phone systems use analog signals to transfer data, cloud telephony service converts analog signals into data packets. As companies do not need to install any on-premise hardware other than IP phones and a stable internet connection, cloud telephony reduces the cost of the infrastructure, and is widely used by companies to set up call centres.

“The suggestion to bring internet-based and OTT communication players under the ambit of a common law is a well thought out long-term measure. It helps create a level playing field in the industry and ensures that the interest of end-users in India can actually be protected by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as we bring these OTT players under the ambit of Indian telecommunication regulations,” Gaurav Agrawal, senior vice president at Exotel, was quoted as saying.

According to Vidhu Nautiyal, co-founder and chief revenue officer at CloudConnect Communications, OTT services would be safe and secure if they are regulated and require a licence to operate.

He also added that the telecom bill would result in the recognition of licensed cloud telephony players in the country. The bill would be an encouraging turn of events for them, he said.

“KYC and lawful interception will help users in the long-run as they will be more effective tools to keep financial frauds on OTT platforms in check. The government could also bring in DLT-like measures to ensure that spam on OTT players is kept under control,” Exotel’s Agrawal said.

The draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, released in September, has proposed extending the scope of the term telecommunication services to include OTT services, satellite-based communication services, internet-based communication services, in-flight and maritime connectivity services, interpersonal communications services, and machine-to-machine communication services.

While the draft bill proposed that OTT communication service providers be required to obtain a licence, the government is unlikely to go ahead with the provision. The government is in discussions with the industry stakeholders on the issue, and telecom regulator TRAI has opposed the proposal to regulate OTT communication services.

It has been a long-standing demand of telecom players to regulate OTT communication apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal to provide a “level-playing field”.