The debate over OTT apps paying telecom players for network access have turned virulent with both the sides demanding they pay each other for their services to one another.

The Broadband India Forum (BIF) said the OTT apps drive traffic into the network of the telecom players and it is the OTTs who need to be reimbursed.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) countered saying telecom services are like roads, and nowhere does road builders pay to the users of roads (read OTT apps).

In its letter addressed to K. Rajaraman, secretary, the DoT, the BIF had said that OTTs are “not free riders and are actually responsible for more than 70 per cent of the telco traffic”.

“This concept of paying for the use of infrastructure is an excellent concept . However, the revenues earned by the infra provider should also be shared with the entity using it in the same proportion.”

“Telecom networks are akin to roadways wherein the services for public consumption — such as public transport vehicles like buses operate — are similar to the OTT service providers,” the COAI, the telecom operators’ body, said.