With regard to the recently launched Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill 2022, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have called for uniformity in the government’s rules for all types of services, such as over-the-top (OTT) and mobile telephony. However, the application developers strongly oppose being regulated under telecom licenses, saying they are already governed under the Information Technology (IT) Act and any further regulation will stifle innovation.
In the Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill 2022, the government has enlarged the definition of telecom services, bringing OTT communication services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, as well as satellite communication services, internet and broadband services, under its ambit. Airtel believes that the draft bill would provide the opportunity to create a new framework with a new architecture, while asserting that the regulatory authorities needs to balance innovation and business.
