Lok Sabha Question No. 403 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-12
Subject: Over-The-Top Service
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL, DHARMENDRA YADAV, Shrirang Appa Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 403 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 th   DECEMBER, 2018

## OVER-THE-TOP SERVICE

403.   DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE: SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the Over-The-Top (OTT) communication service in the country;
- (b) whether  lawful  interception  of  Over-The-Top  (OTT)  communication  service  is required in the interest of national security, if so, the facts thereof;
- (c) whether  there  are  no  statistics available in  the  public  domain  about  the effectiveness of mechanism adopted by communication service providers to deal with the cases of multiple complaints against same number, if so, the facts thereof;
- (d) whether telcos have sought regulatory framework for OTT players;
- (e) if so, the details and the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued another consultation paper as issued three years back to seek views on regulatory framework for OTT players;
- (g) if so, the response of OTT players thereon; and
- (h) the time by when a final decision is likely to be taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a)  As  per  the  Consultation  Paper  on  'Regulatory  Framework  for  OTT  Services' released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2015, Over-The-Top (OTT) provider is a service provider which offers Information and Communication Technology

(ICT)  services,  but  neither  operates  a  network  nor  leases  network  capacity  from  a network operator. There are basically three types of OTT services:

-  Messaging and voice services (communication services);
-  Application  ecosystems  (mainly  non-real  time),  linked  to  social  networks,  ecommerce;
-  Video / audio content.

OTT  communication  services  provide  real  time  telecommunication  services  using the network infrastructure of the Telecom Service Provider (TSP).

(b) The lawful interception of message (including OTT messages) passing through the network of TSPs is required in the interest of national security as guided by Section 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.

(c) There  are  no  such  statistics  available  in  the  public  domain.  There  is  no  such category  available  in  Centralized  Public  Grievance  Redress  And  Monitoring  System (CPGRAMS) portal of Government of India.

(d) & (e) In  2014,  Cellular  Operators  Association  of  India  (COAI)  had  raised  the issue of regulatory imbalance between TSPs and OTT players who are providing same or similar services as that of TSPs.  The reasons for their concern were that the TSPs are being subjected to several regulatory and licensing conditions, including payment of Licence  fee,  revenue  share  etc.  and  that  the  OTT  players  by  providing  the  same  or similar services using their network without any regulatory obligations and at the same time this is impacting their revenue.

(f) TRAI  has  issued  the  Consultation  Paper  on  'Regulatory  Framework  for  OverThe-Top (OTT) Communication Service' on 12th November, 2018. It is not the same as the Consultation Paper issued on 27th March, 2015. The present consultation discusses only the issue of imbalance between TSPs and OTT players providing services that can be  regarded  as  same  or  similar  to  services  offered  by  TSPs  and  issues  relating  to economic aspects of such OTT services. On the other hand, the Consultation Paper of 2015 focused on possible regulatory and licensing framework for OTT services along with related safety, security and privacy concerns in addition to net neutrality issues.

(g) The last date for submitting the comments and counter comments of stakeholders is 10th December, 2018 and 24th December, 2018 respectively. Comments and counter comments will be published on TRAI website www.trai.gov.in.

(h) No time limit has been fixed by TRAI so far for finalizing its recommendations to Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the above.

*************