By Deborah Taylor
Communication Services, and Selective Banning of OTT Services”. The new deadlines for comments and counter comments are August 18, 2023, and September 01, 2023, respectively.
The consultation paper was released by TRAI on July 7 and addresses the need for regulation of Over-The-Top (OTT) communication services, such as Whatsapp and Telegram. It also discusses the selective banning of these services during periods of unrest or crisis to prevent their misuse by terrorists or anti-national elements.
The paper is a response to a back reference from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in 2022, which requested TRAI to reconsider the lack of regulation for messaging and calling applications. The DoT also asked TRAI to recommend a policy for the selective banning of OTT services.
Messaging and calling applications, according to the consultation paper, are services that enable real-time person-to-person telecommunication similar to traditional telecom service providers.
The DoT’s reference includes a discussion with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication and Information Technology, where the committee suggested banning selective services like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram instead of banning the internet as a whole. This would allow essential services like finance, health, and education to continue operating during internet shutdowns.
However, implementing selective bans on services could potentially lead to more frequent internet shutdowns and restrict freedom of speech and expression.
The consultation paper includes several issues for discussion, such as defining messaging and calling apps, their classification, regulatory aspects, economic aspects, privacy, safety, and quality of service. It also asks for views on the need for a licensing/regulatory framework, collaborative frameworks between app providers and licensed telecom service providers, technical challenges in selective banning, and potential regulatory frameworks for selective banning.
Stakeholders are invited to submit written comments by August 4, 2023, and counter-comments by August 18, 2023.
