This story is part 3 of our coverage of Telcos’ responses to TRAI’s consultation on OTT regulation. You can read part 1 and part 2 here. “TSPs [telecom service providers] that invest heavily in spectrum and building the digital backbone of the country end up paying over 30% [of their] revenue to taxes. On the contrary, the non-investing OTTs [over-the-top services] enjoy huge direct/indirect benefits and revenues by utilizing the TSPs’ networks and do not pay any comparable taxes and levies, thus causing loss to the Government exchequer as well as TSPs,” Reliance Jio said in its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s consultation paper on regulation and selective banning of communication platforms. Jio argues that OTT players should be required to contribute to network development. It says that this contribution should be based on criteria such as volume of traffic, turnover threshold, and number of users. Not just Reliance Jio but other major telecom operators in the country, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, and Vodafone Idea (Vi), all believe that communication platforms should be required to pay network usage fees for their use of telcos' infrastructure. Some context: TRAI’s consultation paper on the regulation of OTT communication services and selective banning of apps focused on the following broad themes— Revenue share agreements between OTTs and telcos. Licensing and regulatory requirements for OTTs. The selective banning of OTT services in periods of unrest. This story focuses on Airtel, Jio, BSNL, and Vi’s comments on creating revenue share arrangements between OTTs and telcos. The…
