Telecoms want OTTs to pay usage charge; calls for a norm

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents the three telcos – Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea – said that such a framework is “fair and rational”.

Telecom operators have called for a legal framework that will enable them to charge a usage fee from over-the-top (OTT) platforms like WhatsApp for using telcos’ infrastructure to offer their services.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents the three telcos – Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea – said that such a framework is “fair and rational”.

“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 (telcos), by bringing in the aspect of Net Neutrality in a misleading manner, to make it a populist issue. We reiterate that all our member TSPs are committed to follow the Net Neutrality principles as per their licensing conditions,” SP Kochhar, director general of COAI, said.

Net neutrality is the principle that a telco or an internet service provider has to provide access to all websites, content and applications at the same speed, under the same conditions without blocking or giving preference to any content. It was a widely contested issue in India, when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) agreed to a public consultation on the issue and released a consultation paper in 2015. Following months of volunteer-led efforts, in early 2016, TRAI announced that differential pricing would be banned in India.

However, over half a decade later, with telcos reiterating that services like WhatsApp and Google Meet – that offer their services via telecom infrastructure – should pay them a fee, concerns around the potential impact on the hard fought win on net neutrality have reemerged.

Telcos say that the proposed usage charge is to meet the funding requirements for creating a robust telecom infrastructure in India, increased revenue for the exchequer, and continued innovation.

“It has been proposed that OTT communication services pay a network usage charge to the concerned TSP in a fair and equitable manner for the actual traffic carried by these OTTs on TSPs’ network based on measurable usage.

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This usage charge will contribute towards the development, maintenance and upgradation of the network infrastructure,” the COAI said in a statement.

The body said that the revenue collected by TSPs from the OTTs will help them roll out and expand networks to meet the infrastructure requirements for OTT services. OTT platforms take a “free ride” on telcos’ funded networks without contributing to the setting up, operating and maintenance costs either directly or indirectly or for the expansion of networks, COAI said.