Exclusive: Airtel to govt: please pay for surveillance

Airtel requested that the union and state governments, as well as law enforcement authorities, share the cost of surveillance incurred by telecom operators when call interception orders are issued. The request was a part of a 16 page regulatory submission in response to a pre-consultation paper on creating a new legislative framework for telecom in India. Entrackr obtained the filing through the RTI Act.

Telecom providers “have been at the forefront of ensuring they comply with the requirements laid down by the law enforcement agencies,” Airtel said. Other parts of the internet ecosystem like Content Delivery Networks and call center operators don’t have this burden, Airtel complained, citing a “disproportionate obligation” on the telecom industry.

“[...] the demands of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) on NatSec [national security] requirements are increasing and putting a substantial cost burden on the TSPs [telecom service providers],” Airtel said. “The time has now come for India to put in place a cost-sharing mechanism between TSPs and LEA/user government departments,” Airtel said, citing the example of Australian law, which provides for interception costs to be split between carriers and law enforcement agencies.

This submission points to increased surveillance. It is unclear how many such orders central and state governments authorize. Seven years ago, then IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Parliament that around 5,000 interception orders were passed each month. In a separate filing, the Cellular Operators Association of India, a trade body that Airtel is a part of, said that “such demands from LEAs are increasing exponentially”.

Call interception in itself is largely automated; Rajan Mathews, a former Director General of the COAI, said in an interview that “[w]hile permissions are still paper-oriented, and that’s appropriate, the enforcement is now in the Central Monitoring System, started by the government. All we’re obligated to do is provide connectivity from our network to the CMS.”

On internet shutdowns, Airtel said that requests for turning off mobile data from law enforcement should be routed through a senior official in the union government. “Since Telegraph is a Union subject [in the Constitution], we believe that only [the] Central government should be the governing authority in this regard, unless the order to shut services is through the High Court or a similar higher authority,” Airtel said.

Possessing and using illegal SIM boxes and repeaters should be a “non-bailable and cognisable offence,” Airtel said, as should vandalism targeting telecom equipment.

Other recommendations from Airtel include to hold a “wider consultation amongst stakeholders on creation of digital infrastructure,” “Enshrine Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in the [new telecom] act,” and “recover only administrative cost” from regulatory levies. Airtel also suggested that DTH television be incorporated under the telecom framework.

Sunset the USOF levy, or make Big Tech pay too

Airtel said that the Universal Service Obligation Fund, a government undertaking to finance expansion of telecom access to rural and remote areas, should “sun-set” its 5% levy on telecom operators’ revenue. “Over the years, even though USO collection has increased, the disbursement has remained low,” Airtel complained. “As a result, there is a high amount of unutilised accumulated surplus in the Fund.” The telco called the 5% levy “high” and “not necessary”.

If, however, the levy were to continue, Airtel suggested that “the new Act should clearly expand the contributing entities and bring the big technology firms under its ambit.”

The government should “either abolish or freeze the levy until the current available funds are deployed effectively,” Airtel argued.

The government last month announced a new initiative from the USOF, the Telecom Technology Development Fund scheme, which “aims to fund R&D in rural-specific communication technology applications and form synergies among academia, start-ups, research institutes, and the industry to build and develop the telecom ecosystem,” the government said in a statement.

(Entrackr will continue coverage this week from filings to the DoT’s earlier consultation on a new legal framework for telecommunications obtained under the RTI Act. A separate consultation based on a draft telecom bill is underway.)