TRAI recommendation on public Wi-Fi is disruptive: ASSOCHAM
Disruptive. That is the word used by the industry body ASSOCHAM, to describe the
Disruptive. That is the word used by the industry body ASSOCHAM, to describe the
Disruptive. That is the word used by the industry body ASSOCHAM, to describe the
Disruptive. That is the word used by the industry body ASSOCHAM, to describe the
Disruptive. That is the word used by the industry body ASSOCHAM, to describe the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendation that Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) and Public Data Office (PDOs) be allowed to provide internet access through Wi-Fi technology without taking a licence. Establishing public Wi-Fi networks without licence, will be illegal as it violates the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, ASSOCHAM pointed out.
Effectively, TRAI has recommended that sale of internet services without a licence and licencee fee and other statutory levies by permitted. The industry body said this would wreck the huge investments made in the telecom sector, and has urged the government to intervene and “reject the ill-advised move of the regulator”.
In a letter to the Telecom Secretary Ms Aruna Sundararajan, ASSOCHAM Secretary General D.S. Rawat said the TRAI recommendation that internet services should be sold under a registration, instead of a licence via public Wi-Fi networks, would mean there would be no liability on the service provider to pay statutory charges, license fee and compliance with any security conditions.
“We believe that this recommendation is completely unjustifiable and unwarranted as this would lead to a serious non-level playing field between licensed and unlicensed stakeholders. Doing so will disrupt the entire licensing framework and affect the huge amount of investment already made in the telecom infrastructure. This will widely impact the telecom sector and may also pose a threat to the national security by way of putting individual data at risk of easy access,” ASSOCHAM said.