TRAI Explores Regulation for WhatsApp and Google Duo Apps

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the public opinion if the same rules should be applied to OTT applications providing services to Call and IM identical to those applied to telecom operators.

TRAI launched a consultation Monday to explore the regulatory framework Key applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Google Duo provide call and messaging services similar to those offered by operators. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the public whether the same rules should apply to OTT applications providing call and instant messaging services to telecommunication operators. The demand of telecom operators has been pending for a long time.

Decision makers such as WhatsApp and Facebook have been subject to decision-makers' control over issues such as data breach and misinformation, and TRAI's latest initiative is expected to increase pressure on them. platforms. "In this consultation, the Authority has chosen to focus only on regulatory issues and economic concerns relating to these OTT services, which may be considered identical or similar to the services provided by TSPs," TRAI in the document. Sources said the new consultation document would have an impact on players such as WhatsApp, Skype, Viber and Hike, and could also expand to new Facebook and Twitter offerings. This however would not be applicable to video aggregation sites, they said. Emails sent to Skype, Whatsapp and Hike remained unanswered.

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The Ministry of Information Technology is putting in place guidelines for social media platforms such as Whatsapp that have been criticized for spreading false information. However, officials from TRAI as well as from the Ministry of Informatics insisted that the two initiatives were distinct, knowing that the ministry was focusing on specific content and data elements, and that it was not. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority dealt with the licensing and regulatory aspects of OTT services.

The debate over the imposition of a regulation on OTT operators began with the question of a high price arbitrage between the rates charged by telecom operators to consumers and courier services and free call OTT operators. However, with the decrease in voice call rates, the price difference between the OTT operators' communication services and those of the telecom operators is reduced. Trai stated that switching from telecommunication operators to new networks made their voice call service comparable to that of OTT operators from the point of view of charging, both being billed on the basis of the data consumed.

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"In this context, it is unclear 'There is price arbitrage between OTT and traditional services,' the regulator said. In its consultation paper on the "Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top Communication Services (OTT)", TRAI spoke of the fact that their services, among others, lead to the spread of rumors that violate the law and order public in the country. The regulatory body said that telecom operators were required to know their customers who were using their services and to authorize the lawful interception of communications when the law of the country required it.

OTT players also check users, but authentications can only be done at the desired time. the time of installation and activation of the service and no other details about the user may be available with OTT readers. "It has sometimes been found that this could lead to security problems, such as the absence of a user trace or the interception of the content of the communication in case of misuse. In addition, it could help scoundrels exploit OTT services to spread rumors without being found. Security agencies may feel powerless to control such situations, "said TRAI.

Third-party applications such as WhatsApp may be under the radar of future TRAI regulations

While the regulator has banned telecom operators from taking any action that discourages access to any type of content available On the Internet, the regulator in the newspaper said that companies had to invest from time to time in the telecommunication infrastructure in order to: handle an increase in demand for data traffic. "This can be achieved by increasing network capacity or upgrading their networks with the latest technologies, or a combination of both. The need to invest may depend on the nature and variety of the traffic, the types and characteristics of the services provided. OTT traffic can be difficult to predict and increase rapidly, "said TRAI.

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