'No plan to share revenues of OTT apps with telcos'

The central government is not considering enabling a revenue sharing model between over-the-top (OTT) players or apps and the telecom service providers for using the telcos’ networks for carriage of the apps, said a top official in the ministry of communications.

- Gulveen Aulakh 

“There is no thinking of creating revenue sharing mechanism between telecom service providers and OTTs," the official said, seeking anonymity. The official refuted reports suggesting that such a mechanism was in the works by the government. “There has been no proposal to that effect."

For a while, telcos have been demanding a share of the revenues earned by OTT platforms considering that some streaming apps have started offering bandwidth-heavy services and generating disproportionately high traffic, which is forcing telcos to upgrade and enhance the capacity of their networks. Therefore, telecom service providers are seeking a contribution from the OTTs for network expenses.