'Licence regime for OTTs to result in negative consequences'

Bringing over-the-top (OTT) players like WhatsApp and Skype under a licensing regime will result in "negative unforeseen consequences" for technology start-ups and ecosystem, Internet service providers have said.
"The hasty imposition of an additional regulatory framework on Internet in India, without full consideration of its implications for the Indian digital economy, is almost certain to result in negative unforeseen consequences for internet-based innovation and the still nascent Internet startup ecosystem in India," industry body IAMAI said in its counter-comments submitted to TRAI.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on March 27 came out with a consultation paper on Net Neutrality with April 24 and May 8 as the last day for submission of comments and counter comments, respectively.

The regulator received over 10 lakh comments from various telecom firms, associations and individuals. It received 42 counter-comments from industry lobbies including COAI, NASSCOM, IAMAI and operators including Vodafone, MTNL and RCOM apart from individuals.
TRAI, which is examining the comments, is yet to give its final recommendations on the Net Neutrality.
In its comments, GSM telecom operators lobby COAI said there is a need to evolve the regulatory framework for OTT communications services as imbalances exist between the telecom service providers and OTT communication players and "need of the hour is to address them at the earliest".

The telecom body said if the principle of "same rules, same service" is not applied, it will have an adverse impact on the telecom industry, the economy and cause significant loss of revenue to the exchequer.

"The continued substitution of communication services from mobile operators to OTT players as a result of price differentials resulting from the imposition of regulatory and policy mandates, will result in revenue losses to the government, approximately Rs 4,600 crore a year," COAI said.
However, IAMAI contended that application-based services are "not same class of service as the normal calls".
"The internet-based communications (VOIP and Chat) cannot be offered without Internet unlike traditional wireless or wire line calls. There are similar services but definitely not the same," it said.
IT body NASSCOM said it is important to note that internet platforms and services are "inherently different" from the services being offered by telecom operators.

"They are value-added services and use data connectivity as offered by the telecom service providers (TSPs), at the cost of data usage which the consumer pays for. Any consumer's selection and preference for a service is purely driven by the evaluation of the service based on convenience and total cost," it added.