Telcos Urge DoT To Adopt TRAI’s Definition Of International Traffic

Telecom operators in India are reportedly urging the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to adopt the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) new definition of international traffic, which could increase their SMS revenues by over INR 400 Cr annually. 

As per an ET report, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) which represents major telecom players like Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafonea-Idea, has written a letter to telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal to integrate TRAI’s recommendations into existing licensing agreements and regulations. 

“We request the DoT to kindly accept the TRAI recommendations and accordingly incorporate the definition of international traffic and domestic traffic vide suitable amendments in the existing unified license agreement as well as in the rules/terms and conditions associated with the various upcoming authorisations,” ET citing COAI’s letter added. 

This request arises from a long-standing issue where multinational companies (MNCs), particularly in the ecommerce sector, have been accused of misclassifying international messages as domestic to avoid higher charges associated with international SMS.

Earlier, MNCs used to process international transactions from servers located outside India while sending SMS messages through domestic systems, circumventing the higher costs associated with international SMS, which can range from INR 2 to INR 5, compared to domestic SMS rates of only 0.2 to 0.5 paisa.

TRAI’s new definition clarifies that any application-to-person (A2P) SMS message that requires the use of devices or systems outside India will be classified as international traffic.

It is pertinent to note that TRAI has been working to regulate and enhance the telecommunications landscape in India. 

While it is expected to announce the recommendations concerning the allocation of spectrum for Satcom soon, it is also launching an updated version of its do not disturb (DND) application to combat spam calls. 

Amid concerns regarding disruption in OTP service, TRAI has also assured that there will be no delays in the delivery of OTP with changes implemented in December 2024.

However, the authority also received backlash from streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon over its proposal to regulate content delivery networks (CDNs).