IAMAI salutes TRAI's 'no regulation framework' for OTTs in India

The IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) has welcomed the OTT regulation recommendations by the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and labelled it as a 'progressive judgement' that will help achieve the 'digital India' vision of the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) as envisaged by the Ministry of Telecommunications.

 

This followed the TRAI suggesting no regulatory intervention on digital services based on data services by telecom operators referred to as Over The Top (OTT) services. 

 

It came after telecom providers were looking for regulation of apps that offer free voice and text services over the internet as such services eat into their revenue.

 

IAMAI highlighted that the fair and transparent stakeholder’s consultation process followed by TRAI has allowed for the right voices to be heard and the decision taken by TRAI is a reflection of this process. 

 

It further added that the brunt of the attack was on messaging services that has led to SMS services being obsolete and VOIP calls at affordable rates that made ISD calls irrelevant.  

 

It stated that the judgment to allow market forces to deal with the economic aspects of the popularity of OTT services is a landmark decision that augurs well for the fast-emerging digital services sector in India.