Telecom carriers have called on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ensure that any testing of technology products and use cases requiring interactions with mobile users on a live communications network should happen within the ambit of current sector regulations, and be subject to lawful interception and subscriber verification rules amongst others. The discussions took place in an open house conducted by TRAI on ways to drive cutting-edge technology innovation in digital communications space via transparent and safe live testing environments, known as regulator sandboxes.
A telco also pushed TRAI to recommend that regulatory sandboxes be kept outside the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, to ensure privacy and confidentiality of sensitive business data shared in any government-backed live product testing environment.
Telcos further added that there was no need for a standalone regulatory sandbox policy framework for developing and testing telecom products and services as current unified licencing rules already allow telcos to do this. It also has requisite checks and balances by way of licence conditions and policies relating to network and equipment testing. Moreover, telcos are also mandated to show compliance to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) within 90 days of intimating the launch of a new service.
According to telcos, regulatory sandboxes should be operated either by licenced operators or jointly by licenced service providers and other entities.
In addition, Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) underlined the criticality of ensuring privacy and confidentiality of sensitive business data/business models shared during a live product testing exercise and urged TRAI to suggest to the government that regulatory sandboxes remain outside the ambit of the RTI Act.
Consumer associations, in turn, called on TRAI to recommend a mechanism for eliciting consumer feedback either directly or through consumer organisations when any live product testing exercise involved consumers. They also voiced reservations around any minimum net worth criteria for participating in a sandbox, as such a move could be counter-productive to facilitating innovation.
