Telecom Bill drops OTT reference, retains regulator Trai’s powers

The new telecom Bill, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, seeks to keep over-the-top (OTT) services away from the purview of the proposed law, even as it retains the powers given to the country’s telecom regulator. It also looks to clear the decks for the Centre to allocate satellite spectrum and steps back on the plans for taking away spectrum from insolvent telecom operators.

The proposed legislation further allows the government to temporarily take control of telecom services in the interest of national security.

Spanning over 46 pages, the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, defines telecommunications services as “any service for telecommunications” — a departure from previous drafts that had extended the definition to include OTT platforms like WhatsApp and Skype,