TRAI may regulate cloud service companies

Cloud Service Providers or CPSs such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure fall under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act and can be regulated by it, according to Chairman of TRAI, RS Sharma.

“Cloud service providers come under the TRAI Act, and we are dealing with it,” said Sharma while speaking at an Open House Discussion on ‘Consultation Paper on Cloud Services’ in TRAI on Friday.

Anything which is wireline, audio, sound, image is covered under telecommunication and therefore, well within the framework of the TRAI Act, clarified further a TRAI official while answering questions from CSPs attending the open discussion.

Earlier, TRAI had also floated consultation paper to see whether the industry can self regulate it.

Currently, CSPs are regulated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Several CSPs, including AWS, said that they are bound by government departments outsourcing and contract laws and raised questions on additional interference by TRAI.

To this, Sharma said that the industry should not necessarily criticise TRAI as it has not been trying to regulate it but waiting to see if the industry voluntary adopts best practices or conduct of codes.

However, according to an ET report, Devashish Bhattacharya from Broadband India Forum present at the debate said that self-regulation might burden new startups entering the space with additional business compliance costs.

In the last couple of years, India has emerged as an important growth market for cloud services.

Last year, Reliance Jio had announced its partnership with Microsoft to offer cloud data services. Both the companies are working to enhance the adoption of leading technologies like data analytics, AI, cognitive services, blockchain, Internet of Things, and cloud computing for SMEs and startups.

Jio claimed to provide cloud services for startups for as little as 1,500 rupees a month.

Through the collaboration, Jio and Microsoft are taking on Amazon’s AWS, which has in the past couple of years grown three-fold.