Video: International Trends in Network Usage Fees

India’s net neutrality battle is back on. Responses to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation on the regulation of over-the-top (OTT) services suggest that online platforms should pay a network usage fee to the telecom operators for the pressure they put on their network infrastructure. To give weight to their demands, telcos referenced international developments, especially those in Europe and South Korea, and argued that other regions are seeing support for network usage fees. You can read our coverage of the consultation and the responses it reached here.

MediaNama conducted a virtual panel discussion on the International trends in network usage fees on October 4, 2023, to better understand how network usage fees is perceived on the global stage. In this discussion, we addressed many different questions: what is the difference between sender-party network pays, interconnection fees, and network usage fees? What has been the impact of implementing sender-party network pay in South Korea? Is the European Parliament in favour of implementing network usage fees? Is network usage fees an effective method to reign in big tech?

 

The video for the panel discussion is available below:

 

We saw the participation from organizations like:

We had 150 registrations for this event, out of which 91 people attended. Registrants included attendees from Truecaller, Koan Advisory, Cloudflare, Netflix, The Hindu, Microsoft, IT for Change, DeepStrat, Access Now, NASSCOM, Vodafone Idea, COAI, Ikigai Law, CCG-NLU, ISOC, CMS, The Quantum Hub, ISB, FTI Consulting, and more. 

What we discussed:

1. How content delivery networks (CDNs) work, how does the sending party network pays system work with CDNs and localized exchanges? 
2. What are the implications of network usage fees for freemium business models?
3. How does the sender-party network pay (SPNP) system operate in Korea? What happened in the Facebook court case and its impact on SPNP? 
4. The Telecommunications Business Act, section 22-7, says that platforms must ensure quality of service. How has this amendment been implemented so far? 
5. What are the differences between sender-party network pays, paid peering, termination fees, and network usage fees? 
6. Can network operators in South Korea refuse to carry content providers who fail to pay the network share charges? 
7. What was discussed in the EU’s consultation on network usage fees, how did we get here and what is the current status?

Also read: 

• OTTs Should Pay A 3% Levy To The USO Fund: Researchers Kedia, Sridhar And Prasad Tell TRAI
• Dispelling The Myths Surrounding Korea’s Network Fee Arrangement: An Interview With Professor KS Park
• Network Fees Could Splinter The Internet: Stanford Law Professor Barbara Van Schewick Responds To TRAI’s Consultation On OTT Regulation

Next up, we will be publishing stories from this discussion on our website, so stay tuned for that. You can sign up for our free daily newsletter to stay updated with our latest stories.

If you’d like to sponsor future discussions at MediaNama, do reach out to us here.

MediaNama hosted this discussion with support from ADIF, Google, Meta and Netflix.