Hostile rules for OTT players being readied?

On May 13, 2015 Rahul Khullar is retiring as Trai chairman but before that he has released an anti-consumer consultation paper on the issue of levying of charges for Over The Top (OTT) services such as WhatsApp, Viber, social network sites, ecommerce sites, etc. He has asked for responses to the consultation paper by April 24, and counter comments by May 8, 2015. It would not be surprising if he issues regulations before he retires.

Just look at the 20 questions Trai has framed (see box-B at pg 37 & 38) after giving a brief background (see box-A at pg 36). Trai’s motivation is clear. It wants to put OTT players under regulations and make services expensive for the consumers. This will benefit the inclement telecom players.

Contrary to this, Trai’s US counterpart Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in their May 2014 consultation paper raised a fundamental issue, “What is the right public policy to ensure that the Internet remains open? There are no doubts in FCC’s mind that internet must remain open, that means the telecom operator should continue to act like open carriers, and the OTT players should continue to be allowed to provide unrestricted services on the edge of the networks. The FCC is convinced that this approach would be beneficial to all and attract investments andinnovations.