Impacts of OTT Service on the Telecommunication Business and Regulation Guidelines

Abstract

        This article aims at exploring the nature of the operation of sound broadcasting, television broadcasting and telecommunication services, the nature of the operation of Over-the-Top (OTT) services, the impacts of OTT services on traditional telecommunication service providers, the regulation of the OTT business and its problematical issues, with a view to suggesting directions for regulating the OTT business in the future. This study is methodologically based on documentary research. The study reveals that the OTT business has evolved from the development of the internet and the growth in the transmission of data through telecommunication service providers. The provision of OTT services produces impacts on traditional telecommunication service providers both in terms of declined revenue from service fees and costs for the development and maintenance of telecommunication networks. Thailand’s existing legislation on the regulation of the operation of OTT services remains far from clear. There exist, in several countries, a variety of regulatory schemes in relation to OTT services, for example, a licensing scheme or a profit-sharing scheme, under which OTT service providers are required to pay for the use of telecommunications networks in the interest of greater fairness. However, there have been various controversial issues concerning regulation, including legal issues, practical issues, and the Net neutrality issues. All these issues require further studies and the determination of clear policies as well as legal infrastructure in the future.