No plan to share revenue of OTT platforms with telcos, says govt: Report

The Centre is not planning a revenue-sharing model between telecom firms and over-the-top (OTT) players who use telco data, according to a report by Mint.

A senior official in the ministry of communications told Mint that there are no plans to enable a revenue-sharing mechanism between OTTs and telecom service providers. There has been no proposal to that effect. 

Telecom firms have been asking OTT platforms to share their revenues with the telecom service providers as some apps have begun to provide bandwidth-heavy offerings and produce high traffic, which has forced telcos to invest in expanding network capacity.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which includes all three private telecom service providers (TSPs) — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea — as its members, has claimed that large OTT players earn revenues from both consumers and advertisers. It has, therefore, proposed that a "fair share" of revenues must be shared with the telcos that do not get revenues from carriage fees for the content.

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OTT platforms, represented by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), have expressed their opposition to the move and said that such a move would violate net neutrality rules.

These views have also been shared with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), which could float a consultation paper on regulatory issues pertaining to OTT video platforms.

The official also told Mint that OTT across the board will be regulated by the ministry of electronics and information technology under the IT Act, and it was left out of the Cabinet-approved Indian Telecommunications Bill.