Binged has kept its readers updated about the ongoing dispute between telcos and OTT platforms. However, the mounting pressure on OTTs may lead to the suffrage of the subscribers.
PD Vaghela, the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, emphasised the need for a balanced approach when addressing the telecom sector’s demand for compensation.
Telecom service providers have been increasingly vocal about seeking compensation from OTT content providers in public discussions. Their argument revolves around the significant investments required to build and maintain extensive telecom infrastructure networks. Telcos argue that since OTT applications like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video operate on these networks, they should contribute to the network’s maintenance costs.
However, if this comes to fruition then there is are high chance that users will have to pay significantly more than what they are paying to purchase an OTT subscription. Naturally, if an OTT app is forced to pay a significant sum to other platforms then they will try to extract that money from us users.
So, just to give you a little heads-up, OTTs are most probably going to get more expensive. However, it will take at least 6 months to fully solidify. Stay tuned to Binged as we will most certainly keep you posted about any changes in the plans offered by major streaming services.