Despite Telcos Inclusion Push, TRAI Excludes WhatsApp, Telegram & Signal From New Licencing Regime

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has excluded over-the-top (OTT) communication apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal from its latest recommendations on licencing regime, which were released on September 18.

In TRAI’s latest recommendations on the “Framework for Service Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023”, there was no mention of online messaging apps. 

With this, the regulator has more or less heeded the demand of digital advocacy groups to keep OTT apps outside the ambit of Act. Both telecom operators and OTT apps have been at odds with each other as the former have been pitching for bringing such apps under a licencing regime. 

In its report, TRAI recommended a complete overhaul of the licencing and suggested a unified authorisation for offering all kinds of telecom services. It proposed three broad categories of telecommunication service authorisations namely main service, auxiliary and captive.

Another key takeaway from the report was that the telecom regulator proposed clubbing the scopes of existing Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) and VSAT-CUG (very small aperture terminal-closed user group) licencing regimes into a single “Satellite-based Telecommunication Service Authorisation” regime. 

“… The extant restriction on VSAT operators to provide services to only CUG has been removed under the new authorisation framework. Both VSAT based FSS and GMPCS service have been included under the scope of Satellite-based Telecommunication Service Authorisation,” said an official statement. 

The recommendations come two months after TRAI, in July, floated a consultation paper and sought comments and counter-comments on the “Framework for the Service Authorisations to be Granted Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023”.

In response, 48 stakeholders submitted their comments while 17 entities furnished counter comments. The regulator also conducted an open house discussion and virtually sought inputs on the paper. 

The paper sought feedback on the identification of a regulatory mechanism to cover OTT communication apps. It also sought to examine issues related to selective banning of apps such as Meta-owned WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Meet, as well as lawful interception of messages by authorities.

The paper also sought responses on questions about whether there was a need for a collaborative framework between OTT apps and licensed telcos and the potential challenges that may arise out of such a framework and its impact on net neutrality.

In their responses, telecom operators overwhelmingly called for bringing OTT apps under regulatory framework, with Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) saying that such platforms should pay a network usage charge to the telecom operators. 

Opposing this demand, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) called the revenue sharing plan a ‘death knell’ for the country’s digital economy. Other digital activists too warned authorities against any such move, saying that it would have an adverse impact on India’s digital economy.