Telcos need to invest in AI, large apps need to share revenue: COAI, ET Telecom
New Delhi: The telecom industry has highlighted that with growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), investments in networks will increase multi-fold. But while the telcos will put in a lot of capital, some large traffic generators (LTGs) will continue to enjoy a free ride on the infrastructure, making the business unviable and uneconomical for the operators.
The industry has reiterated its demand for a revenue share from LTGs, citing examples from major economies like USA, European Union, South Korea and Brazil etc, which are in the process of devising a solution for the issue.
But tech bodies and app makers have decried such a demand from telcos in the past, saying any such move would violate net neutrality and also lead to higher subscriber costs and would stifle innovation, contentions that operators reject.
As per industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the increasing convergence of diverse verticals and technologies is expected to lead to more bandwidth-heavy applications emerging, applying further pressure on the networks, and necessitating heavier investments in the same.
“For example, the advent of AI brings forth the need to incorporate Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) into the systems for computing and processing data. Such heavy investments need to be planned appropriately by the telcos and the fair share contributions would help bring forth some balance in the cash outflows,” COAI said in a letter, dated April 18, to telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal.
Apart from that, 5G and 6G in future also need deployments on the edge with enhanced network capabilities. The new applications will put further strain on the networks.
“With all these factors adding to the network costs, this burden will become uneconomical and unviable for the Indian telcos and can lead to drastic consequences, while the foreign LTGs responsible for the same continue to enjoy riding free over the networks without any responsible dues/actions,” COAI said.
COAI cited the example of USA, wherein lowering broadband costs for consumers Act of 2023 has been introduced in the US Senate, which clearly establishes the need for various ‘Edge Service providers’ which generate disproportionately large traffic to contribute towards infrastructure costs.
Similarly, the EU is working on a legislation requiring the major generators of digital data and video traffic to contribute towards the cost of building and maintaining broadband networks.
The industry had earlier shared calculations that they would incur an additional investment of Rs 10,000 crore due to LTGs and offsetting the cost through tariff hikes would be unrealistic. The telcos said that the calculations were based on data-carrying requirements of today and the future situation is much more alarming.
“It is imperative that the Government takes critical note and addresses this crucial issue at this juncture. This is a global conversation and a step in the right direction by India may help create an apt precedent for the world,” the industry body said.
The letter highlighted that responsible contribution from those benefiting immensely from the Indian telecom infrastructure and networks would be paramount to secure a healthy and progressive future for the ‘Digital India’.
