Net neutrality views by Oct, says TRAI

Net neutrality calls for access to internet content without any discrimination in data speed and cost, and telecom operators and internet firms have been at loggerheads over this issue.

New Delhi : Telecom regulator Trai will come out with its views on net neutrality by October-end and also start consultation on “residual” issues around over-the-top (OTT) applications soon, its chairman R S Sharma has said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has already concluded open house discussions around the controversial issue of net neutrality and is in the process of drafting the recommendations. Sharma told PTI in an interview that the regulator will frame its views on net neutrality “by October-end”. Net neutrality calls for access to internet content without any discrimination in data speed and cost, and telecom operators and internet firms have been at loggerheads over various aspects of the contentious issue.

 The Trai chief further said the regulator is preparing a consultation paper on “residual issues” with regard to OTT players like WhatsApp, Skype, Hike, among others. “On OTT, we had floated a consultation paper in early 2015. Much water has flown since then and many of the issues have been taken care of, by our efforts around differential pricing, net neutrality etc… For the residual issues of OTT, we will float a consultation paper soon,” he said.

 In March 2015, Trai had initiated a discussion to analyse the implications of OTT proliferation and recommend suitable changes in the regulatory framework, if required.     That paper had touched upon aspects like whether OTT players offering communication services (voice, messaging and video call services) through applications should be brought under the licensing regime, and also had thrown up issues around net-neutra-lity, differential pricing

and traffic management practices. It had also sought stakeholders’ views on whether the growth of OTT impacted the traditional revenue stream of telecom operators, and if increase in data revenues of service providers was sufficient to neutralise that impact.