New Delhi : In a move that could spell a doom to the usage of free Mobile Apps like WhatsApp, Skyper and Vibre, the TRAI is planning to initiate a regulation on the OTT (Over-the-Top) companies who provide leading Mobile and social networking apps.
According to the latest communiqué , TRAI has organized a seminar on Tuesday, August 12. The seminar is on the regulatory framework for OTT services that have an impact on the revenue of the telecom companies.
The report stated, ‘Trai on Monday said a seminar will be organised on regulatory framework for OTT services that aims to provide a platform to exchange the views on key issues related to OTT such as new developments in OTT, impact of OTT on telecom services providers and their counter measures, legal and regulatory framework for OTT.’
The seminar will end with a decision on the OTT players. However, the TRAI is unlikely to pose any major restrictions on the app providers.
Presently, the apps are very popular amongst mobile users. Running the apps on the mobile bandwidth is causing a revenue loss for telecom providers due to the drop in usage of VAS like SMS, MMS etc…
According to the sources the telecom providers such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular want the app providers to pay a connectivity charge apart from tariff which they collect from the user for the consumption of Mobile Internet Data.
According to telecom industry estimates, telecom companies are currently losing around Rs 5,000 crore annually due to these free apps as they act as a cheap alternative for services like SMS, MMS, Voice Calling etc . The figure is expected to cross an estimated Rs 16,400 crore in the next two years, as smart-phone users are growing rapidly.
The TRAI wants to bring in the regulation so that the app providers can pay connectivity charges to telecom companies and share revenue with the government as well.
