THOUSANDS OF BARBADIANS use them daily, probably without considering the “cost”. In other words, who is paying for ability to utilise these services for “free”?
We are talking about hugely popular applications like WhatsApp and Skype, which people have on their mobile phones, tablets, and computers. Rather than paying the cost of a regular text message, they can WhatsApp someone. They simply need to have an internet connection. The same goes for Skype.
The communications industry calls these services, which also include Netflix and Viper, Over The Top (OTT) because they are an add-on to what telecommunication providers offer their customers. The communication companies like Flow and Digicel are not paid anything, even though their networks are used by the OTT providers. And customers pay nothing to use the OTT services, other than what they pay the communication companies for their data packages and internet connections.
So that for these and other reasons it is not surprising or hard to imagine that OTTs continue to generate major controversy in the Caribbean and across the world. While it might not have generated the type of attention, a regulatory statement on OTTs was one of the key conditions the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) outlined when it conditionally approved the merger between Cable & Wireless and Columbus. “The merged entity must maintain net neutrality thus facilitating the use of [OTT] services,” the FTC stipulated. Net neutrality is the principle “that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favouring or blocking particular products or websites”. In a controversial move earlier this year, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 along party lines to treat internet service providers including Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable like traditional phone companies. Publicintegrity.org reported that “the classification will allow the FCC to imposed so-called open internet rules, also referred to as net neutrality, which require both cable and wireless internet providers to treat all web content the same”.
This was preceded in April 2014 by the European Union, which announced rules “to ensure equal access of firms and individuals to online services” and “to harmonise rules across national borders to create a unified European market”.
In a recent White Paper on the issue, international mobile messaging operator and cloud communications provider Tyntec, said: “By 2017, it’s forecasted that [the OTT] communication market will grow seven times, increasing revenues from US$7.9 billion to a whopping US$53 billion. But how will operators deal with this hit to their SMS and voice revenues? As year over year growth of OTT services chips away at revenues, and more than half of estimated subscribers turn towards OTT telephone services like WhatsApp and WeChat, all signs indicate that the time for operators to act is now.”
Also having its say – via its expert Moktar Mnakri – three months ago, was the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is the United Nations “specialised agency for information and communication technologies”. Speaking at an Arab regional forum in Morocco, Mnakri said “a major enabler of OTT growth has been the lack of regulation that it has faced to date”, although he said “regulation is unlikely to provide a solution to network operators’ concerns”.
The recommendations he made for Barbados and other ITU members to consider included: determine whether the provision of free OTT services represents unfair competition and is detrimental to the development of the market as well as take action as required; define a framework for net neutrality regulations to enable commercial service offers and cost oriented marketing pricing while protecting the consumers’ interests; and update the license/operating conditions of existing operators and service providers in relation with net neutrality and growing data protection and security requirements.
