OTT players are making huge money out of India’s subscriber base, says COAI

Telecom companies have long been demanding that OTT or Over The Top players like Whatsapp, Hike Messenger should be brought under the same regulatory regime. Telcos have long argued that these OTT players get a free ride on telecom networks without any regulatory or compliance burden.

Government has responded to this demand and the draft telecom bill now recognises internet-based communication services like messaging, emails and video calling as telecom services.

So even these OTT players will now have to apply before Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for license. OTT industry has expressed concern that this could hurt innovation and competition. The bill is in its draft stage and still open to public comments.

SP Kochhar, Director General at Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) told CNBC-TV18 that OTT players are making money out of India’s subscriber base.

Kochhar said, “The service which is being provided by these OTT players generates humongous amounts of profits for the companies which are abroad. These companies are deriving money from the subscriber base which is in India. So why can’t that money be shared with the Indian government for the betterment of the network in India?”

TV Ramachandran, President at Broadband India Forum said the telcos are misleading the country as OTT players are already regulated under the IT Act

“There is a very misleading thing going on from the telcos that OTTs are unregulated. These OTTs are already regulated by MeitY under the IT Act and they also come under the Competition Commission of India,” Ramachandran said.

He added that the telcos are the pipe, the pipe is useless if there is no content in it. "OTTs provide the content and so both have their own roles, they have to play complementarily, it is not either this or that," he said.