Page 2 - Coai

Tech corpus positive, hope for full telcos' wishlist consideration: COAI

The long-term, interest-free or low interest rate loans and focus on deep tech will further encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation, according to COAI

Budget 2024-25: Telecom industry wants govt to junk USOF, slash duties

A clearer definition of gross revenue, GST exemption also sought

Proposed US bill to charge large apps should be adopted in India: COAI

Telecom operators want the government to adopt a bill, similar to a proposal in the US Congress, that would make large internet apps contribute to infrastructure costs to help lower broadband costs for consumers, a senior industry official said. A bill sponsored by US Senators Markwayne Mullin, Mark Kelly and Mike Crapo in US Congress last month aimed at lowering broadband costs for consumers proposed a direction to telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to mandate social media platforms, streaming services apps, cloud computing service providers like WhatsApp, YouTube, Netflix, Google etc to contribute to universal fund that is used for building networks. The proposed bill named, Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2023, has classified social media platforms, streaming service, over-the-top messaging service, video gaming service, videoconferencing service, e-commerce platform, search engines under edge services providers. Telecom industry body Cellular

India 5G rollout fastest in world but revenues not picked up: COAI DG

Rollout of 5G network in India has been the fastest in the world but revenue has not picked up as apps that are generating 80 per cent of the traffic are not paying for the network, a top official of the telecom industry body COAI said. While speaking with PTI at India Mobile Congress, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General S P Kochhar said telecom players do not want to burden consumers but someone has to bear the cost of investment being made in the network. "The 5G rollout has been very good. It has set world records with the fastest 5G rollout. But having said that, I'm a little constrained to say that the revenues for the telecom industry have not picked up," Kochhar said. He said a huge amount of capital expenditure is being invested to roll out these networks. "The private players who are rolling this out definitely expect the return on that. That unfortunately is not happening on the scale as which it should. 5G rollout has brought in 4-5 large ...

Fair share charge does not affect access to an open, free internet: COAI

Telcos' body COAI on Tuesday said the proposed 'fair share charge' does not affect access to an open and free internet, as it sought to debunk "misleading and speculative views being circulated by certain quarters" to allegedly "misguide" people. The comments by COAI assume significance as the past months have seen the telecom operators and OTTs exchange fire over the telcos' demand that large traffic-generating apps must dish out part of the revenue (fair share charge) for sustenance and upkeep of communications networks. Firing a fresh salvo in an escalating war of words, the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) alleged that all concerns being raised -- including favouring one website or application, and pricing differentiation -- are devoid of facts and are speculative scenarios designed to mislead the public. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are members of COAI. "There is no violation of net neutrality if a peering charge is applied at an interconnection

Signature campaign 'Save the internet' based on falsehood: COAI to Trai

Recent signature campaign "Save the internet" against the proposal of network usage fee, that was signed by several startups, is based on "falsehood and misinformation", telecom industry body COAI said in a letter to regulator Trai. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said the proposal of "fair share charge" will put the onus on large global entities, who are profiting from India, but not contributing to its economy or infrastructure development. The industry body, whose members include Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea etc, said the people and companies are being misguided by propagating unfounded fears and supposed scenarios by certain entities with vested interests. Meanwhile, calling for signatures of startups, a note from "Save The Internet" campaign members mentioned that the letter meant for submission to Trai is to oppose network usage fees proposed by telecom operators, and against the idea of imposing telecom licensing on online services. The note said that Airtel, Ji

COAI says OTTs paying Fair Share Charge won't violate net neutrality

The principle of net neutrality mandates that all internet providers give its users equitable access to all content and applications on the internet without any discrimination

Fair share fee on large OTT players doesn't violate net neutrality: COAI

Fair-share fee payment by large over-the-top players to telecom operators will enhance consumer experience with better quality networks without violating net neutrality principles, industry body COAI said on Wednesday. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents telecom operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel etc, said that it is a misguided view that fair share charge on large traffic generating (LTG) OTTs will violate net neutrality principles. "Payment of fair share fee by Large Traffic Generating OTTs to TSPs will eventually enhance customer satisfaction, as end-users will benefit via better network quality and improved services," COAI, Director General, SP Kochhar said in a statement. Meanwhile, industry body Broadband India Forum, which represents players in the broadband ecosystem, in its counter comment to the telecom regulator Trai has said that claim to mandate over-the-top (OTT) players to pay for network usage fees and the government's intent

Simulated flights can end 5G signals dispute around airports, says COAI

The resultant dispute on this between telecom service providers and airlines has not been resolved

COAI demands deadline for airlines to phase out radios, seeks 5G services

Telecom industry body COAI has written to the civil aviation ministry seeking a strict deadline for phasing out old altimeters used by Indian airlines as that will help in rolling out 5G service in areas around airports. Aviation regulator DGCA has imposed restrictions on the rollout of 5G services in mid-frequency range of 3.3 GHz band due to apprehensions that the wireless signals may interfere with those of the radio altimeters used by aircraft. Altimeters determine altitude of aircraft and any interference could lead to wrong readings that could also jeopardise the movement of a plane. Against this backdrop, the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), whose members include BhartiAirtel and Reliance Jio, has written to Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam seeking his intervention with respect to the curbs imposed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The industry body has said the DGCA should mandate all airlines to phase out non-conforming radio .

Trai recommendations on boosting telecom infra in NE progressive: COAI

Industry body COAI on Monday said regulator TRAI's latest recommendations on boosting telecom infrastructure in northeastern states are progressive and will drive socio-economic and digital progress in the region. TRAI's recommendation on exemption of Right of Way (RoW) charges in the rural, tribal and hilly regions for a five-year period will encourage telecom operators to invest further towards network deployments in lesser populated regions, the association said in a statement. "The industry is confident that if implemented in letter and spirit, these progressive recommendations will provide further impetus to proliferation of telecom and broadband services in the northeastern region of the country, thus propelling socio-economic and digital progress...," Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) Director General S P Kochhar said. Telcos, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, are members of COAI. On provisioning power supply for the telecom sector, TRAI

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

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

COAI DG makes case for profit-sharing, says OTT using 5G without paying

Cellular Operators Association of India Director General S P Kochhar on Thursday made a case for sharing profit between OTT players and telecom companies for using 5G networks. "While telcos carry their traffic of voice and data, majority of the use of these networks is done by OTT players who load these networks with massive amounts of data which they carry to the end users. "They get it from content providers, put it on their platform and deliver it to the end users without paying anything to the network providers who have created the network for them to roll on," Kochhar said. OTT players, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, SonyLIV have significant user base in India. He said over-the-top platforms benefit from the roll-out of advanced technologies like 5G. "It is like building a house and staying in one floor and other floors are given out on rent which are used by the tenant for commercial purposes but he doesn't pay the rent. "This is very silly. If I have built somethi

All OTTs using telco data should pay fair share charge, says COAI

COAI had earlier suggested levying a licensing fee of 8 per cent on OTTs on a recurring basis

Amended Right of Way Rules 2023 will expedite 5G network deployment: COAI

The recent amendments made in the Right of Way rules for telecom infrastructure will expedite the 5G rollout in the country and enhance the ease of doing business, industry body COAI said on Friday. The latest amendments provide for a single application for multiple small cell sites and allow licensees to set up temporary overground telegraph infrastructure when their existing underground infrastructure is damaged, among other relaxations. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), whose members include Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea etc, said that the provision would help restore telegraph services on priority, thus preventing major disruptions in services to the users. The centre has directed that no fees will be charged by the appropriate authority for this temporary setup. "It will enable rapid network reinstatement in the event of underground telecom infrastructure damage, expedite 5G roll out by utilizing the state's existing infrastructure, simplify application

Allocation in 6 GHz without auction to cause Rs 3 trillion loss, says COAI

The 6 Ghz band spectrum has a range of around 1200 Mhz radiowaves frequencies

Extend trusted source mandate to all devices in network, says COAI

The COAI's argument may also cover Chinese handsets, which have also been scrutinised by the government on charges of being security risks

COAI re-elects Jio's PK Mittal as chairperson, VIL's Balaji as vice-chair

Reliance Jio Infocomm President and former DoT official Pramod Kumar Mittal has been re-elected as chairperson of the Cellular Operators Association of India for 2023-24, the industry body said on Wednesday. Vodafone Idea Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer P Balaji was elected as vice-chairperson at the annual general body meeting of COAI for the financial year 2022-23 "Pramod K Mittal, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, will once again hold the position of Chairperson while P Balaji, Chief Regulatory & Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, will be the Vice Chairperson," COAI said in a statement. Mittal comes with an experience of over 40 years in telecommunications. Before joining Reliance Jio Infocomm, Mittal served in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for over 37 years. Since 2000, he served as Deputy Director General (DDG) and then as Senior DDG, working in the telecommunication policy formulation and implementation, licensing and regulatory

Extend mandatory equipment testing deadline: Telecom operators to govt

Guidelines to come into effect on July 1 but companies seek one-year extension

Telecom operators in a huddle to hang up on green ministry's e-waste rules

According to COAI, only the DoT has the expertise to determine the 'end of life cycle' of telecom equipment