Telcos urge TRAI to include WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram in licensing regime

Telcos, in their latest submission to sector regulator TRAI, have unanimously demanded that over-the-top apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram be brought within the licensing regime under the new Telecommunication Act.

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and COAI—in their comments on the consultation paper issued by TRAI seeking views on the framework for service authorisations to be granted under the Telecommunications Act, 2023—have said that calling and messaging apps should be included in services to be provided through authorisation.

A decision was taken at a recent inter-ministerial consultation on the issue of extending the ongoing pilot project for testing Direct to Mobile (D2M) technology beyond the initial 19 cities.

The pilot testing currently being run by Prasar Bharti will be now expanded to Tier-II and -III cities, from where much of the demand is expected to be generated in the event of a nationwide D2M rollout. However, there is no proposal yet to make it mandatory for handset manufacturers to incorporate D2M technology in mobile phones in India.
BCS Bureau