"The small operators having limited operating presence and subscriber base, will not have bargaining power to negotiate with OTT service providers, as compared to large players having wider geographical presence of operations," MTNL said.

The operator said situation may not provide an equitable opportunity to all players and will lead to exploitation of small regional operators by OTT service providers and large telcos.

MTNL, however, suggested a revenue share model with OTT service providers, to compensate infrastructure cost, spectrum fee, license fee and other corporate taxes borne by telcos.

"The terms/quantum for such revenue sharing arrangement should be decided by the regulator (in absolute terms and not ceilings) and should not be left to negotiations between TSPs and OTT service providers," MTNL added.

Telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, RCom as well as associations such as COAI have proposed to bring OTT communications services under a licencing regime. The telecom operators also said they should be allowed to offer services based on mutual agreements with the OTT players.

Internet service providers though said that bringing OTT players under a licensing regime will result in "negative unforeseen consequences" for technology start-ups and ecosystem.

A major public uproar was witnessed recently, especially on social media, alleging violation of net neutrality principle by platforms like Airtel Zero and Internet.org, where Facebook has partnered with Reliance Communications in India.

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