NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today asked stakeholders whether it was too early to establish a regulatory framework for over-the-top (OTT) services, since internet penetration is still evolving, and access speeds are generally low and there is limited coverage of high-speed broadband in the country.
At the same time, TRAI sought opinion on whether a beginning should be made now with a regulatory framework that could be adapted to changes in the future in a Consultation Paper on ‘Regulatory Framework for OTT services.’ The regulator wants stakeholders to send in their comments by 25 April and counter-comments by 8 May.
TRAI wants to know if OTT players offering communication services (voice, messaging and video call services) through applications (resident either in the country or outside) should be brought under the licensing regime.
It has sought suggestions on whether the growth of OTT is impacting the traditional revenue stream of telecom service providers and is the increase in data revenues of the TSPs sufficient to compensate for this impact.
The regulator wants stakeholders to state whether the OTT players should pay for use of the TSPs network over and above data charges paid by consumers, the pricing options that can be adopted and could they include prices based on bandwidth consumption.
Do stakeholders feel that imbalances exist in the regulatory environment in the operation of OTT players? What should the framework to address these issues be, and how can the prevailing laws and regulations be applied to OTT players (who operate in the virtual world)? are some of the questions to which, TRAI wants answers.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-seeks-views-to-regulate-over-the-top-services-150327
At the same time, TRAI sought opinion on whether a beginning should be made now with a regulatory framework that could be adapted to changes in the future in a Consultation Paper on ‘Regulatory Framework for OTT services.’ The regulator wants stakeholders to send in their comments by 25 April and counter-comments by 8 May.
TRAI wants to know if OTT players offering communication services (voice, messaging and video call services) through applications (resident either in the country or outside) should be brought under the licensing regime.
It has sought suggestions on whether the growth of OTT is impacting the traditional revenue stream of telecom service providers and is the increase in data revenues of the TSPs sufficient to compensate for this impact.
The regulator wants stakeholders to state whether the OTT players should pay for use of the TSPs network over and above data charges paid by consumers, the pricing options that can be adopted and could they include prices based on bandwidth consumption.
Do stakeholders feel that imbalances exist in the regulatory environment in the operation of OTT players? What should the framework to address these issues be, and how can the prevailing laws and regulations be applied to OTT players (who operate in the virtual world)? are some of the questions to which, TRAI wants answers.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-seeks-views-to-regulate-over-the-top-services-150327
