Netflix, Amazon Oppose TRAI’s Move To Regulate Them

Content delivery network (CDN) companies, including Netflix, Amazon, Universal Studios and Warner Bros have reportedly opposed the telecom regulator’s proposal to regulate them.

They argued that they are not telecom operators and therefore do not fall under the regulator’s jurisdiction, as per ET’s report.

The report further said that a host of CDNs represented by global industry bodies like the Motion Picture Association (MPA), Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), and the Broadband India Forum (BIF), along with advisory groups such as Deepstrat and Koan Advisory have presented their case during a TRAI open house discussion. They said that CDNs primarily cache and deliver content rather than enabling end-to-end communication,

“CDNs are neither telecom operators nor internet service providers,” Debashish Bhattacharya, deputy director-general at the BIF told ET.

“CDNs are either a customer of the telecom service providers or a private network interconnecting with telecom service provided through transit and peering…(They) are not involved in delivery or provisioning of bandwidth,” he added.

He argued that quality-of-service regulations for telecom services and net neutrality obligations do not apply to CDNs.

A content delivery network is a geographically distributed network of servers designed to ensure the fast and efficient delivery of internet content.

Uday Singh, managing director of MPA India, said CDNs facilitate seamless video delivery through features like content caching, video streaming, organisation optimisation, reduced latency and load balancing, distinguishing them from traditional telecommunications providers. 

“Free market-driven interconnection agreements between CDNs and ISPs (internet service providers) are critical for sustaining innovation. Mandatory registration or licensing of CDNs could delay service rollouts and compromise content delivery speed and quality, and even global practices such as in Australia and South Korea avoid such restrictions,” Singh added.

Shahira Caffoor, director of policy and research at AVIA, a Singapore-based video industry association for Asia Pacific, described CDNs as “auxiliary services that enhance the quality of service of existing telecom networks”.

She added, “Furthermore, the CDN market is already competitive, and there has been no evidence of market failure.”

The executives shared their views during a virtual open-house discussion hosted by the TRAI yesterday (December 17)

The regulator had invited industry feedback on whether CDNs should be included under a new network authorisation regime and the associated terms and conditions.