Don’t kill the golden goose

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Key Points

India represents one of the fastest-growing OTTs/CAPs markets in the world, thanks to the facilitating nature of policy and regulation..

Internet applications, somewhat inappropriately termed as OTTs, are seemingly a subject of undying interest..

Granted this, if a network usage fee demand is raised, wouldnt it be perfectly reasonable to expect CAPs to demand a symmetric sharing of the revenues to the telecom/internet operator from the traffic due to the apps?.

It also issued a recommendation acknowledging the distinction between OTTs and telcos when considering policies and legal frameworksMember States should consider the fundamental differences between traditional international telecommunication services and OTTs, including the cross border nature of OTTs, low barriers to entry for OTTs and integration of markets amongst other factors...

The European regulators group called BEREC had studied the matter deeply and found in October 2022 that there is no evidence of free riding by OTTs and that ultimately, it is a success of the CAPs which lies at the heart of the recent increases in demand for broadband access or, from a different perspective, traffic growth beneficial to ISPs...

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