NEW DELHI: OTT services such as WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) may come under a regulatory regime with Trai looking to come with recommendations on the matter. The development assumes significance since govt had kept OTTs out of the regulatory regime in the new telecom act, which was passed recently by the Parliament.
Telecom regulator Trai will now proceed with open house discussions on firming up a regulatory mechanism for OTT services, its chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Friday.Speaking at a symposium on ‘Strengthening Atmanirbhar: Securing domestic industry and technology’, Lahoti said the regulator will proceed with the process of holding open house discussions in “around three months or so”.
“I know, we have an ongoing consultation on OTT communication. It is just that in last few months we are burning the midnight oil, clearing the number of references pending with us, and OTT communication is also in the line,” he said.
On whether the telecom act has rendered OTT communication consultation paper infructuous, Lahoti dismissed such a suggestion saying, “no, it is not like that.”
“The OTT consultation was initiated after the recommendation of a parliamentary committee so this consultation will be completed, and we will give our recommendations… which Act it becomes a part of and which ministry, or which regulator deals with it, is a separate matter,” he said.
Govt had dropped OTT services from the purview of the telecom act, despite earlier plans to bring the companies under a licensing regime that would have also enabled the state and law-enforcement agencies to monitor their services in line with similar checks on telecom companies. There is a view that the matter should be part of the new IT Act which is in the works currently.
Telecom regulator Trai will now proceed with open house discussions on firming up a regulatory mechanism for OTT services, its chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Friday.Speaking at a symposium on ‘Strengthening Atmanirbhar: Securing domestic industry and technology’, Lahoti said the regulator will proceed with the process of holding open house discussions in “around three months or so”.
“I know, we have an ongoing consultation on OTT communication. It is just that in last few months we are burning the midnight oil, clearing the number of references pending with us, and OTT communication is also in the line,” he said.
On whether the telecom act has rendered OTT communication consultation paper infructuous, Lahoti dismissed such a suggestion saying, “no, it is not like that.”
“The OTT consultation was initiated after the recommendation of a parliamentary committee so this consultation will be completed, and we will give our recommendations… which Act it becomes a part of and which ministry, or which regulator deals with it, is a separate matter,” he said.
Govt had dropped OTT services from the purview of the telecom act, despite earlier plans to bring the companies under a licensing regime that would have also enabled the state and law-enforcement agencies to monitor their services in line with similar checks on telecom companies. There is a view that the matter should be part of the new IT Act which is in the works currently.