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The global Internet provides a platform for the development and deployment of a great variety of innovations, including “over-the-top” applications and related services. Commonly referred to as OTTs, they are an increasingly important element of the Internet value chain, providing users across the world with access to local and global information and content, generating increasing demand and local added value that is helping to amplify government investments in broadband infrastructure and Internet access. Perhaps most significantly to developing countries, OTTs are providing SMEs, digital entrepreneurs and students with a “low-barrier-to-entry” into the digital economy, fueling the formation of startup communities and tech clusters that increase citizen access to jobs, education, news, trading platforms, productivity tools, enterprise services, and entertainment choices that were unheard of just a decade ago.
Unfortunately, in many markets where OTTs have been welcomed by consumers and businesses, they are increasingly facing resistance from some traditional telecom and mobile carriers and other industry sectors, as well as from regulators and policymakers Some governments are seeking to impose ill-fitting or duplicative regulations onto these technologies in the name of “fairness,” ignoring the meaningful differences between Internet-based applications and traditional telecommunications services. We believe such an approach is short-sighted and will prove detrimental to many governments’ plans to modernize their economies and help spur the creation of new technology-based jobs and businesses. Further, such regulations will hamper national progress versus other regional and international competitors that choose instead to align their policies to maximize opportunities created by OTTs and related services.
Rather than seeking to incorporate OTTs into a legacy regulatory framework, governments should explore ways to reduce the number and impact of existing regulations, which may have been relevant in the past but are no longer appropriate or effective in an era of expanding mobile and digital communications. By giving network providers greater freedom and flexibility to respond to market trends and consumer demand for increased data allowances, speed and quality of service, providers will be able to offer new data packages and incentives that empower rather than impede consumer access to local and global social networking, educational and medical services, file sharing, and video and audio streaming. New businesses and opportunities will be created, further increasing demand for access, quality of service and data, helping governments achieve digital transformation and sustainable development.
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