Big tech firms like Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon and Cloudflare have strongly opposed the government’s move to bring over-the-top (OTT) players under a regulatory framework similar to telecom operators.
Articulating their opposition to the draft Telecom Bill for the first time, these players have cautioned the government that such measures are likely to act as economic disincentives and result in services becoming more expensive for users.
In a letter to communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, these players through their association, Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), have urged the department of telecommunications (DoT) to reconsider the draft Bill in its entirety.
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They said that the services provided by OTTs and telecom service providers are not similar and should ideally be regulated under separate frameworks – information technology laws for OTT services and telecom laws for telecommunication services.
“Unlike OTT service providers, telecom service providers (TSPs) have the right to lease spectrum from the government, obtain numbering resources, interconnect with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and set up ‘right of way’. In fact, TSPs have always been subject to the rigours of telecom laws and governmental oversight on account of these exclusive rights,” the AIC letter highlighted.
Stating that the OTT industry is reliant upon innovation and flexibility in order to provide the users with unique services and experiences, as well as become economically viable, AIC said that extrapolating the same (telecom) laws on OTTs will adversely affect the ease of doing business in the internet industry, among other things.
“Subjecting OTT service providers to a licensing regime may also lead to the imposition of unwarranted governmental oversight vis-à-vis their operations (such as in the form of stringent licence terms and conditions). This is likely to affect the existing nature of OTT services offered to the general public and may even lead to a scenario where users believe that they are unable to openly and freely use OTT services as a medium of expression – and thus undermine their fundamental right to free speech and expression,” the AIC letter said.
Countering the view of telecom operators that same service, same rules should apply, AIC said that services offered by OTTs and telecom operators are fundamentally different and cannot be regulated under the principle of same service, same rules. Telecom service providers operate in a strong market that controls and operates the critical infrastructure for providing services, whereas OTTs offer applications that the public accesses for the exchange of content over the public internet, AIC said. “TSPs are gatekeepers to the internet (for both OTTs and users) and are crucial for the operation of OTT services and in enabling user access to the same,” the association said, adding that OTTs do not free ride over the underlying infrastructure established by TSPs.
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However, telecom body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday countered the position taken by AIC without naming it. “Certain quarters have opined that the principle of ‘same service, same rules’ may not be applicable for OTTs, based on misinformed views. It has been erroneously suggested that telecom services and OTT applications do not operate on the same layer, when in fact, services such as calls (voice/video) whether provided by TSPs or OTTs, operate on the same layer, essentially riding on the network layer,” the COAI statement said.
