COAI

Industry body representing telcos argues 6GHz is the last remaining mid-band spectrum range available for effective 5G deployment

Industry body COAI has asserted that operators are mindful of adhering to service quality as they roll out 5G, but added that full benefits of seamless urban-rural connectivity of fifth-generation services will be gained once pan-India availability of these networks is achieved. The speed of 5G rollout in India "is the fastest in the world", SP Kochhar, Director General of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said. "When the rollout is taking place in a phased manner, that is, in urban areas first, followed by rural, and not in a heterogeneous manner - the overall benefits of 5G will take some time to arrive," Kochhar told PTI. 5G services, in locations rolled out already, are meeting the scientific parameters of ultra high-speed network. "Wherever 5G is being rolled out, telecom operators are being very careful that they adhere to quality, as it is in their interest to do so, and the competition is so stiff that they don't want to lose out the business. So they will com

Telcos' body COAI has made a strong plea that the telecom sector be charged industrial tariffs for electricity and not commercial rates, and that power connections be expeditiously provided to telecom infrastructure facilities. It said doing so was important given the essential nature of services and socio-economic benefits that accrue across multiple sectors from faster 5G deployments. COAI - whose members include telecom operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - has also batted for the sector to be provided uninterrupted 24x7 power supply. "Telecom is an infrastructure industry, but we are still being charged at commercial rates for power. So we don't get the benefits," SP Kochhar, Director General of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) told PTI. COAI has demanded that telecom infrastructure be charged at industrial and not commercial rates for electricity. Today, most states provide electricity on commercial tariff rate to telecom industry, placi

Firing a fresh salvo in the revenue share debate, industry body COAI on Monday said the demand of telecom operators for a reasonable usage fee' from OTT communication service providers towards network use is "fair and rational", and would drive the digital infrastructure while contributing to the economy. Just days after Internet and Mobile Association of India's (IAMAI) assertions that demand for 'revenue share' was an underhanded attempt to violate net neutrality, COAI returned fire saying it is "misleading" to state that Net Neutrality principles will be violated. "Certain entities with vested interests are misdirecting the issue of the need for a regulatory framework for the communication OTTs and the need of usage charge to be paid by OTTs to the TSPs, by bringing in the aspect of Net Neutrality in a misleading manner, to make it a populist issue," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI, said in a statement, without naming IAMAI. The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI

The COAI said that there seems to be a lack of appreciation of the fact that net neutrality pertains to non-discriminatory treatment of content which has no nexus to the usage fee issue

COAI has been advocating for a model where online platforms are made to pay 'usage charges' to telecom operators

IAMAI on Thursday slammed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for its 'revenue sharing' demand which is "a covert attempt to dilute net neutrality in India"

Industry body COAI on Tuesday made a strong pitch for setting aside mid band 6GHz spectrum for mobile operators, saying it is critical for proliferation of 5G services, and delicensing it to "use for all" will impact quality and cost of next generation services. Radiowaves in 6GHz is a sweetspot for telecom service providers as current spectrum in the mid band is "woefully short of requirement of telcos". Also, 6GHz, with its propagation qualities, will be ideal for densely populated areas, specially urban locations. "Right now, about 720 MHz spectrum that telcos have in the mid band range is not enough for the requirements," SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI (Cellular Operators' Association of India) said briefing reporters on the need for 6GHz spectrum allocation for 5G services.

Industry body COAI has contended that implementation of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) should not be made mandatory but kept optional for telecom operators

The recent order, which came into effect November-end, makes 5G services in the 3,300-3,670 Mhz band unavailable not only in airports but also nearby business and commercial areas

BIF on Wednesday wrote a letter to the DoT, saying that if the concept of paying network access charges is to be accepted, the telcos should also pay the OTT platforms

Telecom operators industry body COAI has written to the government to set-up a licensing and regulatory framework to charge a 'usage fee' from big internet-based calling and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Google Duo. In a letter to Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman last week, the Cellular Operators Association of India Director General SP Kochhar said that charges may be limited based on usage of the network without burdening over-the-top (OTT) players in micro, small and medium enterprise segment. The Department of Telecom has proposed to define OTT players providing call and messaging service as telecom service providers (TSPs). COAI said OTT players should pay the TSPs for using the telecom network for providing their OTT services to the customers in a fair and equitable manner by way of an equivalent of 'Usage Charge' on the basis of mutual agreement. "There may be instances wherein the OTT players and the TSPs may not agree mutually on 'Usage Charge'. If a mutual agreement

Telcos point out that based on global estimates 56% of telco bandwidth is used by OTT communication platforms and in India it is even higher due to the proliferation of users which are over 400 mn

COAI added that the government must provide a legal framework to enable the service providers to charge any user that uses their services

Mobile operators' association COAI has urged the government for a cut in licence fee to 1 per cent, and sought waiver of customs duty on network equipment for 5G rollout. In its Budget wishlist submitted to the finance ministry, the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has also pushed for abolition of the Universal Service Obligation Fund or USOF. The apex telecom association has urged the government for rationalisation of GST, reduction of licence fee to 1 per cent from 3 per cent and waiver of customs duty on 5G network equipment. During the pre-Budget discussions held on Monday, COAI also sought removal of GST on licence fee, spectrum usage charges and payment of spectrum acquired in auctions. Other demands include refund of accumulated input tax credit of GST (Rs 32,000 crore) and clarification regarding availability of input tax credit on critical equipment installed on telecom towers. COAI counts telecom operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea

Asserts that OTTs ride on telcs' network infra without paying fees while consuming huge amounts of bandwidth

Telecom operators' body COAI on Tuesday made a strong pitch for OTT (over-the-top) communications services to directly compensate telcos for data traffic they are driving onto the networks, as it advocated a licencing and light-touch regulation framework for such services. Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), Director General, SP Kochhar said that the association, as part of draft telecom bill, has given its suggestions on how OTT communications services should be defined, to ensure there is no ambiguity. The other aspects like proposing a financial model for OTT communications services to compensate telecom service providers, through a possible revenue share model, will be made to the government going forward as and when the specifics of the framework for light-touch regulation is discussed, Kochhar told reporters at a briefing. In future, the same principle of revenue share basis data consumption, can be applied to other OTTs (all categories), as well, he added.

Industry body argues for 'same service, same rules', says current disparities give OTT players privileges but not responsibilities

The COAI said in a statement that the 5G spectrum should not be provided on an administrative basis as it leads to no business case for the rollout of 5G networks in the country

In its guidelines on captive non-public networks, the government has allowed direct allotment of spectrum to enterprises