Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
Telecom companies have raised concerns over regulator TRAI’s decision to not include messaging and calling apps like WhatsApp and Telegram in its recommendation on new licensing rules in a meeting with Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Sources said the companies also discussed issues related to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments. Scindia wrote on the social media platform ‘X’, “Chaired a fruitful meeting with the Stakeholder Advisory Committee of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). Together we discussed key issues related to enhancing customer satisfaction, streamlining processes and improving quality of service, ensuring connectivity, access and affordability for all. ”
Representatives of these companies were present in the meeting
The meeting was attended by Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani, Vodafone-Idea (VIL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Akshay Mundra, Bharti Airtel Managing Director (MD) and CEO Gopal Vittal and BSNL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Robert J Ravi. The source said, “All the companies raised concerns over the exclusion of over-the-top (OTT) apps by TRAI in its recommendation on service authorization. VIL and Bharti Airtel raised the issue of AGR.” Telecom companies have long been demanding to bring calling and messaging apps (OTT) under the purview of telecom licenses as they provide calling and messaging services like any telecom company. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) did not pay heed to the demand of telecom companies and excluded these apps from its recommendation on new licensing rules under the Telecom Act 2023.
Demand for relief from AGR issue
VIL expressed concern over the impact of the AGR issue on the health of the industry, which was also supported by Bharti Airtel. Last week, the Supreme Court rejected VIL’s petition on the ground that it did not meet the criteria. VIL has an AGR liability of Rs 70,320 crore and Bharti Airtel has an AGR liability of about Rs 21,500 crore. During the meeting, Scindia discussed the problem of harassing calls and SMS. The source said, “The companies have some concern about unsolicited commercial calls, which has been taken note of by the Department of Telecommunications.” After the telecom companies, Scindia met representatives of telecom equipment manufacturers like Dixon Technologies, Nokia, Ericsson, Sterlite Technologies and VVDN.
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