Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have also backed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s proposal to overhaul the existing telecom licensing regime and bring a pan-India single licence, namely Unified Services Authorisation (National), to enable ease of doing business, simplify regulations, cut costs, reduce litigations and much more, in their response to a consultation paper floated by the regulator.
“OTT services and applications have thrived and multiplied, enabling factors being absence of any regulatory barriers and instant access to a global audience through the broadband connectivity powered internet,” Airtel wrote in its response to Trai’s exhaustive consultation.
OTT players have become substitutes of text and voice services, it added. Telcos however didn’t name any specific app.
OTT communication apps in the past have pushed back at this proposal, saying they are already regulated by the IT laws.
The telcos said the proposal for a single pan-India authorisation marks the first significant change in the licensing regime in 30 years since 1994. But they cautioned that the new regime must not dismantle the existing structural core of the telecom sector. For instance, the scope of existing entities must remain intact, they said. Internet service providers (ISPs) should not be allowed to provide leased lines/VPNs. Digital connectivity infrastructure provider (DCIP) authorisation and IP-1 scope must remain separate. Similarly, internet exchange points (IXPs) and content delivery networks (CDN) and numerous other services scopes must not be dismantled, keeping in mind the business models of involved parties, they said.Industry bodies like infrastructure association DIPA and technology body Nasscom have concurred with the telcos’ views that merging of authorisations and bringing fringe players under regulation will not only create confusion but also create entry barriers for small emerging businesses.However, there are some opponents.
“There’s a pressing need to expand the existing ISP licence’s scope to enhance service offerings and align with global practices,” the ISP Association of India (ISPAI) said. “Category A ISPs should be permitted to offer application layer VPN or internet-based VPN services to their customers.
