COAI Highlights Key Discussions at India Mobile Congress 2024

COAI appreciates the positive approach from the TRAI Chairperson - Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, wherein he has called for structured regulation of the OTT communication platforms. His acknowledgement of the regulatory issues which are ailing the law enforcement agencies as well as the traditional telecom service providers. We truly appreciate TRAI’s call for regulators globally to maintain a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring a fair and competitive market, given the cross-border nature of OTT services.

This is especially relevant in the context of spam/online scams or Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) rising highly on these OTT platforms, and with the TSPs complying with the latest and stringent guidelines aimed at curbing the same. It is pertinent to note that a significant volume of commercial traffic is shifting to OTT Communication Services, which are not subject to the same regulatory framework as applicable to TSPs, thereby creating an imbalanced situation for regulation and requisite checks. It is evident that the exponential growth of OTT services and unregulated proliferation of communication services is creating a heady mix of security threats while also creating an uneven level playing field from the regulated and law-abiding service providers. 

COAI emphasizes that national security is paramount and calls for all communication service providers, including OTT-based communication services, should adhere to the same Regulations as applicable to TSPs, including the TCCCPR, Quality of Service (QoS) and lawful interception rules/regulations.

Fair Share Contribution from LTGs

COAI was encouraged with the discussions that took place during the sessions held on Day 3 and Day 4 of the India Mobile Congress 2024, on “Balancing Digital Demand: Ensuring Level Play for Telecom Networks” and “Spectrum for $ 1 trillion Digital Economy”, wherein constructive and positive discussions took place in the panel along with LTG (Large Traffic Generator) players. It was encouraging to have the Member (F), DoT – Shri Manish Sinha’s supporting views on the issue being faced due to insufficiency in revenues of Telecom Service Providers from the growth of data services.

Representatives from the LTGs also seemingly agreed to explore possibilities in consumer interest, setting alight hopes for a workable solution to come forth in the future towards the resolution of the Fair Share issue. It was heartening to see the LTG’s panellists agreeing to the TSP’s concept of increased network expenses with further advancements of the network, going forward.

COAI firmly pointed out the need to recognize the fact that for the Telecom industry to flourish and roll out networks sufficiently geared up to meet the demands of collaborative players and future modernization, LTG players need to contribute adequately/proportionately, based on a dynamic model. Presently, when we need to roll out 5G and create a robust future network, the deficit between expenditure and earnings needs to be filled in. Since roughly 70-80% of our network traffic today is OTT traffic, we must come to a unanimous decision of sharing a fair share of the infrastructure cost with the LTGs, which can be regularly reviewed and revised. Going forward, as is clearly visible, tariff increases would not be sufficient to cater for the ever-increasing investment requirement. At the same time, COAI also made it abundantly clear that a supportive framework needs to be provided to nurture startups, MSMEs and small enterprises in the OTT ecosystem and therefore, such smaller players with low usage need not be required to pay the usage charge, thus safeguarding innovation and entrepreneurship.

It may be interesting to note that India is not looking at an isolated case in this regard, as across the world, the demand for fair share is a key issue of contention today, with major economies like the USA, EU, South Korea, Brazil and South Africa exploring solutions to tackle the issue.

Further, an analysis by COAI shows that TSPs invested an additional Rs. 10,000 crore in 2023, to upgrade network infrastructure, primarily to handle the surge in data traffic from top LTGs. But the revenue generated from this increased data traffic has been inadequate to cover the rising infrastructure costs. This is besides the fact that the Government lost an estimated Rs. 800 crore in AGR dues and taxes, such as GST, due to the revenue loss caused by the top 4-5 LTG apps.

Spectrum Issues and Price Reduction

The other way is to reduce the base price of Spectrum and COAI has been asking the Government to look into this. Currently, we pay almost 38% of our earnings in tax – making us the highest taxed sector in India. Being an essential sector which is an enabler for other sectors, telecom should be considered more rationally by the Government, especially looking at its emerging important role in the future for enabling other industries to perform more efficiently.

We also appreciate the views of the Principal Advisor (F & EA), TRAI - Shri D. Manoj, whereby he acknowledged the lack of spectrum with the TSPs in India, especially with the humongous number of connections we have compared to USA, as well as the huge debt faced by the TSPs in India today (> Rs. 6,00,000 crores) whereby they do not even get bank interest for their investments. COAI further appreciated his open views regarding the pricing of spectrum and hopes for reconsideration in the same based on the manifold use of 5G applications across all other sectors as well.

6 GHz Spectrum Demand

With the subscriber base we have in India, we need 2 GHz of spectrum to provide 5G at full efficiency — but what we got in the last auction was only 800 MHz. So, there is a deficit of 1200 MHz that needs to be fulfilled to offer the true flavor of 5G at optimum costs. The 6 GHz spectrum band is the optimum solution to do so presently and we demand for the same to be allocated accordingly. It may be pertinent to mention here that Wi-Fi proponents demanding for the same spectrum would need to utilize the present spectrum allocated, besides preparing for Wi-Fi 7, which is spectrum agnostic.

Cybersecurity

The complexities of Cybersecurity are no longer an overlay but an integral part of our digital fabric. With machines, sensors and cross-border networks blurring boundaries, securing telecom networks is crucial for national security and economic stability. Policy, regulation and technology must converge to address this challenge. The evolving threat landscape demands innovative solutions, from deep packet inspection to enterprise security operation centers. On a wider debate of Digital Infrastructure, adoption of technologies like quantum computing and blockchain would be required. Further, challenges such as data sovereignty and Global Personal Taxation which are not inherently supported by technology, also need to be addressed. While these concepts are alien to digital infrastructure, legislation continues to enforce policies that don’t align with the technical capabilities of the systems in place. Holistic solutions would need to be adopted to address these challenges.

Sustainability

Trust and sustainability are two sides of a coin; when you flip one side, the other side suffers. For example, data centers and blockchain technologies are important for the growth of a country, but are notorious for their energy consumption. Ideally, to ensure sustainable growth, data centers should be strategically located where infrastructure is available, renewable energy sources like solar or wind are accessible, and at locations close to users. Sustainability policies, such as green open access for renewable energy, should be prioritized and incentivized. While these regulations exist in our country, the implementation has been slow, and we continue to rely on diesel generators (DG), working against sustainability efforts. With the rise of large-scale data flows, driven by technological advancements, we need innovative solutions that can balance energy efficiency with sustainability. 

Technological Evolution

We are currently in the midst of a metamorphic change – technology is changing lifestyles, including working. We must embrace and adapt to it, to derive maximum benefit out of this Telecom Revolution. The cycle of technology change is so short that policy and regulation find it difficult to catch up. Hence, we need to use policy engines powered by technology itself, to keep pace with the rapidly changing technology waves. Again, we must compare physical highways with digital highways – this will bring clarity to many ideas. We build physical highways for ease of movement and to aid economic development. Similarly, digital highways are meant for ease of movement of data, which has become the currency of today.

Having telecom is no longer a luxury; it is an essential ingredient flavouring our lives. Therefore it has to be made robust. IMC 2024 is expected to be a turning point for the Telecom industry; as it has been an eye-opener for the imperativeness of coming together of all players and discussing certain issues. We believe that the way ahead will be carved out better through understanding and cooperation between the requisite stakeholders.