Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) remain out of the scope of regulation, as per the draft rules for network authorisation that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) released on October 14.
This is despite the fact that the DoT had argued for a light-touch regulatory framework in its communication with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) earlier this year. For context, the government wanted to impose a minimum quality of service (QoS) and network resilience requirements on CDNs, stating that the interconnectivity between telecom companies and CDNs can influence both these aspects.Â
TRAI, on the other hand, had recommended that the government should exempt CDNs from authorisation, subject to the fact that their agreements with authorised players are fair, non-discriminatory, and comply with net neutrality obligations. The telecom regulator had also suggested that the government ask CDNs for information about their agreements with other players when necessary in the public interest.
However, the draft regulations not only leave CDNs exempt from regulations, but also do not include any agreement-related requirements. In fact, the only spot where CDNs are mentioned in the draft rules is in conversation about internet exchange point (IXP) regulation with respect to who IXPs are allowed to facilitate peering for.Â
Why it matters:
The DoT’s decision to keep CDNs out of regulation’s scope aligns with the demands from industry bodies such as NASSCOM and IAMAI (Internet And Mobile Association of India).
To explain, during the consultations in the lead up to the draft network authorisation rules, these industry bodies had flagged that the CDN market is highly competitive, and in the absence of market failure there is no need to introduce regulations which could stifle their growth.
Key network services being regulated under the rules:
Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG) Authorisation:
Satellite earth station gateways (SESGs) are ground stations that transmit data between a satellite and a local area network. DoT mentions that companies with an SESG authorisation can establish, operate and maintain SESGs for such satellite systems that the Department of Space, IN-SPACe or any other office of the Central Government has authorised.
Notably, SESG service providers can only provide telecommunication networks under the scope of their authorisation and not any other category of telecommunication network which requires a separate authorisation. Also, service providers do not have to pay any fees to obtain an SESG authorisation.Â
Advertisements
Importantly, SESG providers have to submit the technical details of their gateways to the government before establishing them. Further, under the technical requirements for this authorisation, authorisation holders can provide infrastructure to authorised telecom entities only on a fair and non-discriminatory basis and based on mutual agreements. And SESG…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
