India can set precedent on fair-share levy on OTT platforms: GSMA's Gorman

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India could play a vital role in setting a precedent that works both for OTT (over-the-top) players and telecom service providers insofar as imposing a fair-share levy on streaming platforms is concerned, Julian Gorman, head of Asia-Pacific at GSMA, a London-based lobby that represents mobile network operators globally. Telecom service providers want big OTT players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video that generate large data traffic to pay a mutually-decided fair charge to create and maintain digital telecom infrastructure.

“India could play a significant role in setting a precedent that works both for OTT players and telcos. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but the debate needs to ensure that investment in infrastructure keeps pace with the demands of the digital economy," Gorman said. The debate around fair share between telecom service providers and OTT platforms has intensified globally.

In India, a market characterized by rapid growth and increasing data consumption, this issue has taken centre stage. Fair share refers to telcos demanding a share of revenues of OTT players to be invested into telcos’ networks on the grounds that OTT players are large traffic generators that utilise a big chunk of telecom bandwidth but invest nothing. Telecom firms are the ones investing billions into the network without getting any investment from OTT players.

The debate has also intensified in other parts of the world, like the US and Europe. An example has been set in South Korea with such a revenue-sharing agreement between Netflix, a large traffic generator in the country, and SK Telecom, after a three-year legal battle. In the recently-concluded India Mobile Congress, domestic