Signature campaign 'Save the internet' based on falsehood, misinformation: COAI to Trai

Recent signature campaign 'Save the internet' against the proposal of network usage fee, that was signed by several startups, is based on 'falsehood and misinformation', telecom industry body COAI said in a letter to regulator Trai.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said the proposal of 'fair share charge' will put the onus on large global entities, who are profiting from India, but not contributing to its economy or infrastructure development.

The industry body, whose members include Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea etc, said the people and companies are being misguided by propagating unfounded fears and supposed scenarios by certain entities with vested interests.

Meanwhile, calling for signatures of startups, a note from 'Save The Internet' campaign members mentioned that the letter meant for submission to Trai is to oppose network usage fees proposed by telecom operators, and against the idea of imposing telecom licensing on online services.

The note said that Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea have asked telecom regulator Trai to allow them to charge startups a 'network usage fee' based on traffic and number of users.

COAI countered the argument in the letter and clarified that it has proposed no 'fair share charge' should be imposed on small startups and over-the-top players to encourage innovation and nurture them.

"It can be clearly seen that the COAI position is entirely opposite to the views mentioned in the said letter, and is a false statement used to misguide the addressed audience."

"Hence, it is evident that the internet companies or startups have been grossly misled in order to sign the aforementioned submission," COAI Direct General SP Kochhar said in a letter dated October 4 to Trai.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is currently working on 'Regulatory Mechanism for Over-The-Top (OTT) Communication Services, and Selective Banning of OTT Services'.

"We urge the Authority not to consider the submission and the signatures gathered as credible or valid, as its entire premise is based on false pretence and misinformed views," Kochhar said.

The 'Save The Internet' letter mentioned that the demand to impose licensing and cost obligations on OTTs is directly at odds with the government's startup India initiative and these initiatives aren't complete without the support for Net Neutrality.

The letter described net neutrality as a principle that assures telecom or internet service providers don't discriminate for or against online apps and services, on the basis of availability, speed, or cost of access, leaving that choice to the end-user alone.

The startup letter to Trai had said that allowing price differentiation based on the type of content being accessed on the internet, would militate against the very basis on which the internet has developed.

COAI letter said the enhanced telecom infrastructure resulting from the infusion of this revenue would help these startups and MSMEs to deliver better quality services to their customers.

"The onus would rather be on the large global entities, who are profiting from India, but not contributing to its economy or infrastructure development," Kocchar said.

COAI said that net neutrality pertains to non-discriminatory treatment of content which has no nexus to the 'fair share charge' issue.

"It is also important to understand that all of the concerns mentioned – such as favouring one website or application or service, pricing differentiation, decision on charging fair share on a case-to-case basis, etc – are imagined and speculative scenarios," Kochhar said.

COAI alleged that people and companies are being misguided by propagating unfounded fears and supposed scenarios by certain entities with vested interests.

The industry body said that the proposed fair share charge will be uniformly designed based on usage volumes, with certain thresholds to determine the applicable charges, and not based on differentiating pricing for individual entities.

"There will be no preferential treatment or difference in the quality of service offered amongst the B2B companies catered to, irrespective of whether they are lying above or below the usage threshold," Kocchar said.