Earlier this month there were reports that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to implement charges for over-the-top (OTT) players of apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype etc. TRAI has rejected the proposal of carriers to make OTT players that offer these services share part of their revenue with them or the government, according to a report from The Economic Times. TRAI has also decided again their plan for consultation process for it, as it feels that operators can offset the losses through growth in data revenue, according to the report. An official told ET that "One-third of the incremental revenue of the telecom industry is coming from data services itself. As far as the voice services are concerned, there is an upswing in the realisation rates. There is no proposal for a consultation paper (on regulating companies offering free messaging and calling services).” Indian telcos have been voicing against these OTT players for some time now. OTT services like WhatsApp is cutting into operator’s and government’s revenue since SMS and voice call usage are coming down due to apps like WhatsApp, Viber and Skype.Telcos are reportedly losing around Rs 5,000 crore annually because of these free apps. Another official told ...
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