Telcos support Parl panel recommendation of merging IT & Telecom ministries

The telecom industry has supported the recommendation made by a Parliamentary committee to merge the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), saying it will bring more transparency and improve compliance.

 

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology made the suggestion to merge the three allied ministries in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha last week.

 

Telecom operators have also argued that the same policy push should be extended to apply one set of policies and regulations for telecom operators and over-the-top (OTT) communication services providers.

 

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that in whatever format this is implemented, the move will lead to a “focused and composite handling of issues”, thereby formulating policies which are equally applicable to all the concerned ministries.

 

Representing the three private telecom service providers (TSPs) Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, COAI said it will reduce multiple policy formulations on the same subject, thus improving transparency and compliances.

 

“Taking the same logic into the operational domain covering spam/fraud messages and calls spanning over both telecom networks and OTT channels, it is necessary to apply one set of policies and regulations to both components, TSPs and OTTs,” COAI Director General SP Kochhar said.

 

The erstwhile Ministry of Communication and Information Technology was bifurcated in July, 2016.

 

Earlier this week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee also suggested constituting a media council involving print, broadcasting, and digital media under one umbrella for better coordination and implementation of laws governing them. The proposal aims to streamline oversight and enhance coordination in enforcing media-related laws across the country.

 

Telecom operators vs OTTs

 

While telecom operators are currently being governed by the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCPR) 2018, app-based communication services are not under the same regulation. COAI said they “remain unchecked and are becoming a growing concern for the consumers and the government”.

 

Telcos have been demanding that OTT communication services, like WhatsApp and Telegram, should be covered under the new Telecom Act as an access service. They have also been demanding “same service same rules” for OTT players.

 

Meanwhile, tech interests have stressed any additional regulatory intervention will lead to entry costs on the industry, increase the cost of service which could be passed on to consumers, and thereby stymy the virtuous economy OTTs are contributing to.

 

COAI has pointed out that with advancing digitisation and voice calls transitioning increasingly to OTTs such as WhatsApp, it is becoming more difficult to track such calls and block them. Despite consistent efforts by telecom operators, the Telecom Bill has not clarified whether OTT platforms fall outside the regulatory oversight of the telecom ecosystem.