COAI says OTT platforms must pay telecom firms for using their network: Report

Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that over-the-top (OTT) platforms must contribute towards creating and developing digital telecom infrastructure in India in exchange for using the services, said a media report on Tuesday.

The body has suggested levying a "usage charge" for actual traffic carried by OTT on telecom networks. It said that the usage charge will be decided mutually between telcos and OTT players, reported Economic Times.

In a letter seen by ET, COAI wrote to telecom secretary K Rajaraman, "Any entity which creates a property or infrastructure by investing funds, is entitled to take usage charges (rent or lease charges, etc) from the user of that property or infrastructure who uses the same for commercial purposes."

Moreover, COAI added that the government must provide a legal framework to enable the service providers to charge any user that uses their services. "If a mutual agreement is not reached, then an appropriate licensing and regulatory framework should be in place which governs the contribution of OTT players towards creation of network infrastructure," it stated.

The letter also brought to the fore the demand for legislation on OTT players globally. "The European Commission (EU) is advocating for formalising of due legislation for OTT players to share the network investment burden of the telecom players in a proportionate manner," it said.

"In Australia, a world-first law was passed in Feb 2022, aimed at making tech giants pay for news content on their digital platforms," COAI said.

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