Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India
The Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India is depicted as the telecom sector regulator to enable and create conditions for growth of telecommunications in India in a way and speed for the nation India to be an emerging global information society. Primarily TRAI is mandated to provide a fair and transparent policy environment for promoting a level playing field and facilitating fair competition.
Counter-Comments to responses on paper no.2/2005 "OTT services"
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
To:
1) Shri A. Robert J. Ravi, Advisor <advqos@trai.gov.in>
2) Thomas Varghese, Joint Advisor /TRAI
cc: subscribers to India Against Corruption
cc: Dr. Gulshan Rai / DEITY
Sir
With reference to your email below.
I hereby confirm that I sent a counter-comment on 8 May 2015 as mentioned in your email under reply.
I further confirm/assert that the "explicit" content was directly relevant to the subject consultation and formed an integral part of my submissions. All the "explicit" content has been previously forwarded formally to the concerned officers of Department of Information Technology/Govt of India concerning the grossly obscene pornography being distributed by a foreign OTT provider M/s WIKIMEDIA in India under so-called ZEROPAID arrangements with some mobile TSPs who are regulated by TRAI. Accordingly, the "explicit" content I had annexed was "taken down" from M/s WIKIMEDIA's Indian website after I complained to various officers.
NB: "ZEROPAID" schemes and walled internet gardens are the subject of the TRAI's consultation paper on which public comments were solicited..
I had also previously informed you that the REGISTRANT address for domains WIKIMEDIA.IN and SAVETHEINTERNET.IN are one and the same.
Accordingly, it is India Against Corruption's position during this consultation process that the 1 million "spam" responses to this consultation have originated as a cynical conspiracy by foreign online gambling, gaming and pornography service providers via foreign financed lobby groups like "Centre for Internet and Society" - Bengaluru, who are behind the so-called SAVETHEINTERNET.IN campaign and in whose name/address the domain SAVETHEINTERNET.IN admittedly used to send the bulk of email spam responses to TRAI's servers is registered.
We have also called upon TRAI to prosecute these persons under the law of the land, as you are duty bound to do. The fact that "Centre for Internet and Security" receives hundreds of thousands of US dollars annually from WIKIMEDIA is in all the newspapers in addition to being posted on their website. http://cis-india.org/news/wikimedia-foundation-awards-grant-to-cis
India Aqainst Corruption therefore condemns the email communication under reply received from TRAI that we should censor our pleadings and delete our evidences with a view to prevent the citizens of India from knowing the antecedents and motivates of the persons behind the so-called SAVETHEINTERNET.IN campaign.
We hereby also call upon TRAI to PUBLICLY clarify that when any person could download huge quantities of such "explicit" content free of charge using ZEROPAID schemes of RCOM, AIRCEL etc over mobile phones either without paying internet access charges or only some token fixed charges, how it is the TRAI now hypocritically directs me that IAC's graphic evidence of such licence breaches cannot be published by TRAI during formal statutory processes. Such hypocrisy reeks of corruption, coverup and some pre-determined agenda in TRAI's consultation processes.
Nonetheless, and without prejudice, we shall be sending our amended counter-comments within 48 hours, but under very strong protest. Our evidences shall be sent separately and we strongly urge you to investigate /inquire / prosecute the perpetrators, as you are duty bound to do.
sincerely
Sarbajit Roy
India Against Corruption
TTO
TTO (59th Amendment)
To: Shri Manish Sinha, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, ("TRAI")
Date: 12-October-2014
BY EMAIL
Sir,
SUB: Objections to Draft TTO (59th Amendment) submitted on behalf of INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION.
We thank the Authority for the opportunity to comment on the proposed TTO amendment/s.
Please find below our brief objections / comments to the subject draft TTO amendment/s.
1) That we, the India Against Corruption jan andolan, firmly oppose the extension of the TT order for mandatory reporting of tariffs to the ISPs.
2) Our reasons for this lie in clause 7 of the TTO 1999 which is completely discriminatory for the small consumers vis-a-vis the corporate and bulk users whose negotiated tariffs are exempt from reporting. As a consequence Telcos / ISPs are selling way below cost to corporates but gouging the unorganised general consumers. Accordingly, India Against Corruption has decided to organise the general category of telecom and internet consumers to negotiate better tariffs for their communication, and oppose such discriminatory and predatory amendments which cause us to doubt the integrity of the person/s proposing it.
3) Nowadays with convergence between Voice and Data networks, IAC fails to see why, say, a telecom / data provider RCOM (Reliance ADAG) is offering highly attractive call + data packages to certain groups for youth to communicate with each other, but will not offer the same facilities to our body's very substantial membership, who are in a different age group to communicate with each other.
4) Similarly, we also fail to see why the almost free tariff loot of MTNL for public servants is exempt from reporting, whereas only the vastly over-priced schemes available to the general paying public are being reported to TRAI and to Parliament to depict that this telco is in the best of heath.
5) Likewise a 5 / 7star hotel gets all broadcast television channels, including premium foreign channels, for as low as Rs. 75 per receiver, whereas the same package is around Rs. 325 to the ordinary consumers. Some VIP customers of course get free connections which are unreported.
6) We say that reporting exemption for small ISPs, is a loophole waiting to be exploited.
7) Accordingly we call for a level playing field, in that all telecom tariffs and connections must be reported equally to the regulator and should also be made available under RTI to those citizens interested in having such information on application.
Submitted in the larger public interest of behalf of IAC. We would like to be able to comment on other comments received.
With best wishes
yours faithfully
Er. Sarbajit Roy
National Convenor
India Against Corruption, jan andolan