This could undoubtedly be the highest point of stupidity shown by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in the recent past. Business today reports that, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) plans to meet on Tuesday to initiate the process of bringing in a regulation for over-the-top (OTT) companies or providers of apps like WhatsApp and Viber to pay connectivity charges to telecom companies and share revenue with the government as well.
This could very well be due to the pressure TRAI faces from the butthurt telecom operators who are suffering huge losses ever since social messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber and hike have been a roaring success. According to telecom industry estimates, telcos currently lose around ₹ 5,000 crore annually due to these free apps and the figure is expected to cross ₹ 16,400 crore in the next two years, as mobile subscribers using smartphone with internet are growing rapidly.
It has to be noted that the telecom operators already make a good money from the data charges they collect from users of various messaging apps. Quite some people have expressed their anger towards TRAI’s stupidity. They are comparing the situation to that of the postal service which has been killed by email. Angered users questioned if these operators are sharing any revenue generated by data usage to App makers who are the reason for data usage by the consumer in the first place.
We only hope TRAI doesn’t end up taking stupid decisions.
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