The economic impact of over-the-top (OTT) services is an area of study covered by
Question 9/3 of ITU-T Study Group 3 (SG3). Online and OTT services have transformed the economies of both developed and developing countries; moreover, this effect has clearly trickled down to small businesses and to individuals. Historically, these benefits have tended to be concentrated in developed countries; however, as the process of digitalization accelerates, and as more and more people worldwide are connected to the Internet, these benefits accrue to developed and developing countries alike. This tendency is closely linked to the growth in the availability and affordability of mobile broadband (and smart phones), which has deepened network coverage and opened it up to the masses.
Concerns are widespread that OTTs may be impacting the revenues and profits of traditional network operators. This could in turn depress investments that are needed in fibre-based infrastructure, and in new mobile access technologies such as LTE. Different interpretations are possible as to the relevance and severity of this threat.
In response to new competition from OTT providers, some fixed-line and mobile operators are launching their own OTT services to extend their market reach. Many are based on cloud-based OTT platforms to reduce their time to market. Another issue of key relevance to debates surrounding OTT is the protection of the rights and privacy of consumers using OTT services, given that the regulatory safeguards of traditional telecommunications may not be applicable to OTT. The rise of OTT has called for the industry to balance the demands of consumers with those of traditional and new industry stakeholders.
ITU-T SG3 has developed the following international standards on OTTs:
Other publications include:
ITU organized a workshop on "Economic and fiscal incentives to accelerate digital transformation of data and applications over telecommunication infrastructure" which took place from 3 to 4 November 2022 at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Access the presentations (
here) and watch the recording of the sessions (
here).
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (New Delhi, 2024) in line with Resolution 68, requests the Director of TSB to convene workshops preferably back to back with relevant Study Group meetings that bring together stakeholders in the OTT ecosystem, aiming to facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing, and consideration of diverse stakeholders' interests, while identifying and proposing innovative solutions to address their needs and interests wherever possible and report progress of workshop outcomes to TSAG.
ITU-T SG3 is also studying the following work items under Question 9/3:
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D.OTTBypass – Recommendation on OTT Bypass
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STUDY_OTTs
– Study on policy, regulatory, and economic aspects of OTTs in the context of international telecommunication/ICT services and networks
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TR_OTTbypass – Technical Report on OTT bypass
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TR_RevEco-OTTs – Revision of Technical Report on Economic Impact of OTTs (2017)
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D.SIMBOX – Recommendation on Economic impact of SIMBOX bypass
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STUDY_ACPMIS – Technical Report on Alternative Calling Procedures, and misappropriation and misuse of facilities and services (CLI, CPND and OI).
Regional Groups under ITU-T Study Group 3 are also studying the following work items:
ITU-T SG3 Regional Group for the Arab Region (SG3RG-ARB):
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D7_R_OTTBypass – Regional Recommendation on OTT bypass including national and regional collaboration between Member States and operators to deal with the OTT bypass issue
ITU-T SG3 Regional Group for for Latin America and the Caribbean (SG3RG-LAC):
