In a huge breakthrough for the telecom companies, the Department of Telecom (DoT) ‘net neutrality’ report recommends regulatory intervention of over the top (OTT) services including WhatsApp, Skype to ensure fair play in the telecom sector. Also Read - 5G spectrum auction in India will not be delayed: Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
ET Now has got hold of the DoT report sent to the telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for approval, and it clearly recommends apps be brought under the same rule as the telecoms, i.e., pay licensing fees and adhere to other statutory rules as per guidelines. This leak has created a furor among net neutrality activists who feel that this move will stifle innovation, and the advent of free apps will be history. Also Read - Airtel, BSNL beat Reliance Jio to add more new subscribers in December
This will deter the growth of startups and OTT service content providers as they cannot operate at the scale at which telecom operators do, and will be at an obvious disadvantage if intervention is introduced. Twitter has been abuzz since morning voicing its disapproval on licensing of apps and urges Telecom Minister Ravi Shakar Prasad to not approve of the DoT committee’s report. Also Read - Shark Tank India: How to watch the Best Moments of Season 1
Acc to the ET Now story, DoT wants licensing of whatsapp, viber and all messaging apps. Please tell @rsprasad you don’t want this.
— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) June 29, 2015
Carrier pigeons, people. Its the only means of communication that won’t require licensing in near future. https://t.co/g5brLNY6Zy
— Anurag (@gnurag) June 30, 2015
There are thousands of apps on different app stores. Will TRAI give licenses to ALL of those apps? Strange? https://t.co/xczpQa9Tn9
— MS (@Memeghnad) June 30, 2015
Two requests @rsprasad: 1. Please release DoT report,submitted to you 1 month ago 2. If it allows licensing&zero rating,pls don’t approve it
— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) June 30, 2015
What utter nonsense @rsprasad https://t.co/u8x8418R1B
— Hyber Nation (@autumnshade) June 30, 2015
@nixxin Mr.@rsprasad it’s nice that you remember the emergency. So kindly leave free communication alone and don’t mess with messaging apps.
— Di (@Di_CB) June 30, 2015
Dear @rsprasad,Q are being raised about of ET Now story. Please release final DoT report on #NetNeutrality, submitted to you 1 month ago.
— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) June 30, 2015
License to communicate. What next? Tax to speak? @rsprasad @nixxin https://t.co/H6eAxsV8qi
— Gautam Balijepalli (@TheDesiVC) June 30, 2015
Cool analogy 😎, but let’s hold our horses, at least until @rsprasad decides on DoT report, if not @PMOIndia? https://t.co/MOogoufOoo
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) June 30, 2015
We had huge respect for Digital India initiative but lost it when DoT decided it won’t listen to the people on how they wanna “shape” it.
— AnonOpsIndia (@opindia_revenge) June 30, 2015
Digital India should not mean licensing every app & helping one corp gain monopoly. It should not mean mass surveillance on the people.
— AnonOpsIndia (@opindia_revenge) June 30, 2015
@nixxin @rsprasad “Messaging” is half the point of whole frickin Internet! Email, mailing lists, blogs, wiki, FB groups, Slack..(1/2)
— Nilesh Trivedi (@nileshtrivedi) June 30, 2015
To put things into perspective, the telecom giants, on the other hand ,allege that IM apps have been eating away at their revenues. They have disrupted the messaging model, and now look to disrupt the voice call service model too with services like WhatsApp Call. The telecom giants rely heavily on voice calling, as it makes up for 80 percent of their revenues, and have urged DoT and the telecom minister to address these legitimate concerns.
Upon approval by Prasad, the report submitted by the committee together with the telecom regulator’s recommendation will form the final basis of the government’s non-discriminatory policy on net neutrality.
Here’s ET Now’s report on gaining exclusive access to the DoT report:
