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Have OTT players pay telecom firms usage charges, COAI writes to DoT

Telcos point out that based on global estimates 56% of telco bandwidth is used by OTT communication platforms and in India it is even higher due to the proliferation of users which are over 400 mn

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The move has been seen by the platforms as a way to violate principles of net neutrality by bringing in differential pricing for different set of consumers

Surajeet Das Gupta New Delhi
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) - the apex body for telecommunication (telecom) companies - has demanded that over-the-top (OTT) communication platforms pay telecom companies (telcos) ‘usage charges’, based on the actual traffic carried by them on their networks.

The move has been seen by platforms as a way to violate the principles of net neutrality by bringing in differential pricing for different sets of consumers.     

In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), it has requested the government to incorporate a mechanism into the draft telecom Bill by defining ‘usage charges’ and clearly define what