Lack of contribution to network costs from large traffic generating platforms a ‘major challenge’: COAI

NEW DELHI: The lack of contribution to network costs from large traffic-generating (LTG) digital platforms/players continues to be a major challenge for the telecom industry, said the Cellular Operators Association of India ( COAI ) on Friday in its year-end statement. It, however, added that the telecom industry expects to collaboratively work with LTGs in 2024 to develop high-quality networks and a “responsible” fair-sharing model. “Despite the overall growth of the sector, the industry faces a major challenge, revolving around the lack of contribution to network costs from Large Traffic Generating (LTG) digital platforms/players.

. . the industry stakeholders also look forward to a collaborative effort with LTGs to develop high-quality networks and a responsible fair-sharing model, ensuring sustainable growth for the entire digital ecosystem,” said S.

P. Kochhar, Director General of COAI. Advt The Delhi-based industry association represents top telecom operators Reliance Jio , Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea .

“The recent bill introduced in the US Senate is also an acknowledgement of the need for high traffic generating ‘Edge Service Providers’ to contribute to the costs of delivering affordable broadband to all citizens, and corroborates the stance of the Indian telecom sector,” he said. Telcos have been demanding a fair share from the LTGs, emphasising the need for equitable cost distribution amid rising infrastructure expenses and increasing costs of network deployment and maintenance by the telcos. They reason that LTGs, despite earning both from subscription fees and advertising revenues, do not contribute to network costs financially which places an “undue burden” on telcos, hindering their financial sustainability and impeding further investments.

On the other hand, the technology companies represented by the Broadband India Forum (BIF) have alleged that telcos’ contention to mandate over-the-top (OTT) players to pay network usage fees coupled with the government’s intent to impose a licensing framework would lead to a violation of the Net Neutrality principles and guidelines of 2016. Advt Telcos have denied that their fair-share demand violates Net Neutrality. COAI also said that as India asserts its global leadership in the fifth-generation era, the telecom industry expects the emergence of dynamic use cases.

It highlighted that Indian telcos have completed their minimum 5G roll-out obligations in each of the 22 Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) in a timespan of just 10 months which has positioned India as the “second largest 5G network in the world”. According to COAI, over 3. 97 lakh base transceiver stations (BTSs) have been deployed in more than 738 districts till November, while the overall wireless subscribers base has reached over 1.

14 billion and the average data usage per subscriber has soared to 17. 4 GB per month. It noted the release of India’s 6G vision document by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which includes a targeted deployment of 6G by 2030.

Additionally, Nokia and Ericsson have set up their 6G labs in the country to contribute significantly to global 6G research and standardisation. “The introduction of the Telecommunications Bill 2023 marked another landmark moment, wherein the government has made enabling provisions in RoW towards ensuring a robust telecom infrastructure and availability of uninterrupted digital connectivity for the citizens,” Kochhar said. At the same time, COAI said the agreement reached at the recent World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 held in Dubai to open the 6 GHz spectrum band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) vindicates the global acknowledgment of the demand by Indian telcos to allocate this band for vital use in 5G, 5G Advanced and the future 6G.

Lastly, the telco lobby body cited pending issues such as the second phase of 5G spectrum allocation, Right of Way (RoW) permissions, high levies and taxes, among major challenges to the sector. “TSPs advocate for a more supportive regulatory environment and seek resolution on these matters to ensure continued success. Additionally, the high cost of commercial electricity tariffs for telecom emerges as a challenge, impacting the sector’s investment and growth.

There is a pressing need for the government to address these issue to ensure a robust and evolving telecom ecosystem, supporting the nation’s economic growth,” Kochhar said. ETTelecom Published On Dec 23, 2023 at 08:41 AM IST Telegram Facebook Copy Link Be the first one to comment. Comment Now COMMENTS Comment Now Read Comment (1) All Comments Post Post Find this Comment Offensive? Choose your reason below and click on the submit button.

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. . the industry stakeholders also look forward to a collaborative effort with LTGs to develop high-quality networks and a responsible fair-sharing model, ensuring sustainable growth for the entire digital ecosystem,” said S.

P. Kochhar, Director General of COAI. The Delhi-based industry association represents top telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

“The recent bill introduced in the US Senate is also an acknowledgement of the need for high traffic generating ‘Edge Service Providers’ to contribute to the costs of delivering affordable broadband to all citizens, and corroborates the stance of the Indian telecom sector,” he said. Telcos have been demanding a fair share from the LTGs, emphasising the need for equitable cost distribution amid rising infrastructure expenses and increasing costs of network deployment and maintenance by the telcos. They reason that LTGs, despite earning both from subscription fees and advertising revenues, do not contribute to network costs financially which places an “undue burden” on telcos, hindering their financial sustainability and impeding further investments.

On the other hand, the technology companies represented by the Broadband India Forum (BIF) have alleged that telcos’ contention to mandate over-the-top (OTT) players to pay network usage fees coupled with the government’s intent to impose a licensing framework would lead to a violation of the Net Neutrality principles and guidelines of 2016. Telcos have denied that their fair-share demand violates Net Neutrality. COAI also said that as India asserts its global leadership in the fifth-generation era, the telecom industry expects the emergence of dynamic use cases.

It highlighted that Indian telcos have completed their minimum 5G roll-out obligations in each of the 22 Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) in a timespan of just 10 months which has positioned India as the “second largest 5G network in the world”. According to COAI, over 3. 97 lakh base transceiver stations (BTSs) have been deployed in more than 738 districts till November, while the overall wireless subscribers base has reached over 1.

14 billion and the average data usage per subscriber has soared to 17. 4 GB per month. It noted the release of India’s 6G vision document by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which includes a targeted deployment of 6G by 2030.

Additionally, Nokia and Ericsson have set up their 6G labs in the country to contribute significantly to global 6G research and standardisation. “The introduction of the Telecommunications Bill 2023 marked another landmark moment, wherein the government has made enabling provisions in RoW towards ensuring a robust telecom infrastructure and availability of uninterrupted digital connectivity for the citizens,” Kochhar said. At the same time, COAI said the agreement reached at the recent World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 held in Dubai to open the 6 GHz spectrum band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) vindicates the global acknowledgment of the demand by Indian telcos to allocate this band for vital use in 5G, 5G Advanced and the future 6G.

Lastly, the telco lobby body cited pending issues such as the second phase of 5G spectrum allocation, Right of Way (RoW) permissions, high levies and taxes, among major challenges to the sector. “TSPs advocate for a more supportive regulatory environment and seek resolution on these matters to ensure continued success. Additionally, the high cost of commercial electricity tariffs for telecom emerges as a challenge, impacting the sector’s investment and growth.

There is a pressing need for the government to address these issue to ensure a robust and evolving telecom ecosystem, supporting the nation’s economic growth,” Kochhar said. “,”keywords”:[“Industry”,”COAI”,”Large Traffic Generating”,”International Mobile Telecommunications”,”Cellular Operators Association Of India”,”Telecom News”,”Network Costs”,”Vodafone Idea”,”Reliance Jio”,”Bharti Airtel”],”articleSection”:”Industry”,”url”:”https://telecom. economictimes.

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