OVERVIEW

Over the course of last year, there has been an on-and-off push towards regulating telecom and internet services together. In 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) published the Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 (Draft Bill), which seeks to regulate internet services within the ambit of telecom regulation, was published for public consultation. The Draft Bill entailed significant reforms to the telecommunication sector, however, it also expanded the ambit of telecommunication services to include over-the-top (OTT) communication services as well. It also failed to consider that the internet and telecom fundamentally differ on structural, functional and operational levels. 

Further, in another effort, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (‘TRAI’) in January 2023 released a consultation paper titled “Regulating Converged Digital Technologies and Services – Enabling Convergence of Carriage of Broadcasting and Telecommunication Services” (Consultation Paper), which explored the need for regulation for converged digital technologies of telecom and broadcasting services. The consultation paper essentially seeks to bring licensing of internet services at par with telecom and broadcasting services and under a single regulator, i.e. TRAI. 

In this study, we deep dive into the nuances of the Draft Bill and analyse it from the lens of the impact on the digital ecosystem. The first chapter gives an introduction to the study. The second chapter deals with the definition of telecommunication services under the Draft Bill and argues that it is broad and ambiguous. The third chapter provides perspective on how the internet and telecom services are fundamentally distinct in structural, technical and functional aspects.. The fourth chapter of this study deals with the impact of licensing regime on the startup ecosystem and how this bill, in its current form, will be a case of over and excessive regulation. The fifth chapter delves into the impact of this regulation on encrypted services. The sixth chapter delves into the network usage fee debate and its implication on the digital ecosystem. This chapter looks into other jurisdictions and how their regulations have panned out. Lastly, the seventh chapter takes a tour of other major jurisdictions and assesses how they treat the convergence of technologies.