Regulating OTTs comes under purview of I&B ministry, says Jyotiraditya Scindia

Telcos including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea have requested the Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to bring OTT communication players under the regulatory fold and Telecom Act, in the recent past.

By  Storyboard18Dec 19, 2024 11:31 AM
Regulating OTTs comes under purview of I&B ministry, says Jyotiraditya Scindia
Minister Scindia said that regulating OTTs comes under the domain of the Ministry of I&B.(Image source: News18)

Bearing good news for the major telcos of the country, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia has shared that regulating over-the-top (OTT) platforms comes under the purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B).

The Minister's statement comes amidst telecom operators pushing OTTs to share infrastructure costs.

Although according to the OTT players, such a move could stifle innovation.

It is to be noted that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also looking into telecom operators' requests to push OTT to share infrastructure costs.

In an interview with ANI, Scindia said, "...that is something that, to be very candid, comes under the domain of the Ministry of I&B. Having said that, I have six advisory groups that I have set up and this concept has come up as an issue that they would like to discuss from the point of view of the TSPs (telecom service providers)."

While TSPs argue that cost-sharing could support much-needed investments in their network expansion, critics highlight the potential violation of net neutrality principles, noted ANI report. Net neutrality mandates equal treatment of all internet traffic, prohibiting payments from content providers to TSPs. Introducing such payments, critics argue, could allow network operators to prioritize certain platforms, undermining the internet's democratic nature.

In the recent past, telcos have been urging the Minister to bring OTT communication players like Google, WhatsApp and Telegram under the regulatory fold and Telecom Act, as they rely on telecom infrastructure.

In September, the likes of Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani and its MD Pankaj Pawar, Rajan Mittal, VC of Bharti Enterprises and Akshaya Moondra, MD, Vodafone Idea, among others, met the Minister to discuss 'ease of doing business'.

Meanwhile, the likes of Broadband India Forum (BIF), National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have argued that OTTs are already governed by the Information Technology Act 2000. In fact, last year, the then telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also clarified that OTT apps are governed by the IT Act and not the Telecom Act.


Tags
First Published on Dec 19, 2024 9:33 AM

More from Storyboard18

Advertising

Navi Mumbai airport sells 70% of ad space before opening; Jewar follows close behind

Navi Mumbai airport sells 70% of ad space before opening; Jewar follows close behind

Digital

YouTube turns 20: 20 billion videos, 20 million daily uploads and a reinvention

YouTube turns 20: 20 billion videos, 20 million daily uploads and a reinvention

Digital

Apple to shift assembly of all US-sold iPhones to India by 2025

Apple to shift assembly of all US-sold iPhones to India by 2025

Advertising

UP govt plans to replace traditional hoardings with digital displays

UP govt plans to replace traditional hoardings with digital displays

Digital

Perplexity AI joins forces with Motorola to bring answer engine to smartphones

Perplexity AI joins forces with Motorola to bring answer engine to smartphones

Brand Makers

Rob Lake and the return of live spectacle in a digital world: The master of illusion in India

Rob Lake and the return of live spectacle in a digital world: The master of illusion in India

Brand Marketing

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath raises alarm over apps misusing user data without consent

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath raises alarm over apps misusing user data without consent

Digital

Alphabet Q1 2025: Google's ad revenue growth slows, hits $66.89 billion in the quarter

Alphabet Q1 2025: Google's ad revenue growth slows, hits $66.89 billion in the quarter