Levy USO-like fee on OTTs: Telcos to DoT

The revenue-sharing tussle between telecom operators and over-the-top (OTT) apps has taken a fresh turn.

- GULVEEN AULAKH

Now, telcos want the government to play a role in getting data-guzzling OTTs — which they refer to as large traffic generators (LTGs) — to pay a charge for using the telecom networks to offer their services to consumers.

Telecom service providers, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have collectively proposed to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that a levy be imposed on such OTTs' income generated from India. That levy could get pooled into the Consolidated Fund of India or the Digital Bharat Nidhi (erstwhile Universal Services Obligation Fund meant for connectivity in rural and remote areas), the telcos have suggested.

According to executives familiar with the details, the idea is to help telcos use the fund, coming from the levy on such OTTs, to provide data and voice connectivity in the underserved areas of the country.

Queries to DoT, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.

Earlier, telcos' demands centered around a revenue-share agreement directly between the carriers and large traffic generators (LTGs) like Netflix, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other apps on the ground that the entities were not contributing towards supporting the data network infrastructure that telcos build.