Telecom service providers wary of regulatory sandbox proposed by TRAI

The telecom regulator had suggested a national level controlled live testing environment for new products or services

Joining a regulatory sandbox for the telecom sector should not be a mandatory obligation, while enough regulations remain to maintain the standard of products and services and there is little global precedent for the idea, telecom service providers (TSPs) have said in their submissions to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The Trai had floated a consultation paper proposing to create a controlled, transparent and safe live testing environment for new products or services to drive cutting-edge tech innovation in the digital communications space.

In India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) already have such frameworks in place for fintech and related sectors.

Wednesday was the last day for submitting comments and counter comments on the issue.

Jio has argued that there is no need for a regulatory sandbox in India as far as the products and services of TSPs are concerned.

For non-TSP products and services, Jio has suggested that Trai launch a liberal government-controlled sandbox open to all interested parties like educational Institutions such as IITs and universities based on 'forbearance and light touch regulation'.

Meanwhile, the TSPs should be permitted to set-up their own sandbox with limited restrictions and can onboard partners or applicants for testing new and innovative processes, it said.

Airtel has argued that if implemented, the sandbox should come with requisite guardrails to ensure telcos don't have to share sensitive data sets and be financially compensated for participating. It has also warned against the sandbox becoming a mechanism for Trai to intervene before or after commercial deployment of products.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has said that a sandbox may help in testing and launching of innovative business models at a time when 5G is being rolled out in India, and the emergence of new use cases is being widely anticipated. But it repeatedly stressed that a sandbox should not become a tool to dilute the licensing and regulatory regime.

"Regulatory sandboxes may create an environment where non-licensed entities can exploit regulatory loopholes to gain a competitive advantage over established licensed service providers," it added.

Telcos also pointed out there aren't many successful use cases of government led regulatory sandbox being deployed in the telecom sector despite it being the harbinger of innovation and technology. Rigorous testing requirements are already in place in the telecom sector globally for services as well as telecom equipment, Jio said.

Telecom connectivity today is widespread, and applications, technologies and services across fixed, terrestrial space have continued to evolve on their own, Airtel said.

The company said that successful alternatives to the sandbox such as the trial and experimental licenses issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have already enabled the deployment of advanced technologies.

Telcos argue against a sandbox

• Existing regimes already maintain standard of telecom services and equipment
• Few global examples of national regulatory sandboxes owing to innovation in sector
• Non licensed entities may use it to gain advantage over industry players
• Govt issued trial & experimental licenses act as alternatives to deploy advanced tech

Demand safeguards if govt goes ahead

• Jio : Two sandboxes, run by governments for educational entities & TSPs for their partners
• Airtel : Joining should not be mandatory, govt should help financially to set it up
• Vodafone : Only licensed entities should be allowed to participate