Net neutrality (also network neutrality, Internet
neutrality, or net equality) is the principle that Internet service
providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not
discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform,
application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. The idea of
an open Internet is the idea that the full resources of the Internet and means
to operate on it are easily accessible to all individuals and companies
Why is it
important for us in India?
Till recently
there was absolutely no problem and all of us have enjoyed unbiased access to
the content freely and fully. But, in few days from now, the telecom regulator
in India is preparing to recommend the changes that may affect the very essence
of the same.
Till recently the
telecom companies in India have had a great run making great profits as the subscriber base in India
grew past 850 Mn from virtually nothing 20 years back. During this time, the large focus was on selling
voice minutes at a price much higher than the cost. With the advent of the
likes of Whatsapp, Skype and Google hangouts, consumer can make these calls at a
fraction of that rate over VoIP through internet. This poses threat to the
comfortably high margins of the telcos as the voice calls are delivered at
internet prices.
One of the
leading telcos implemented the differential
charging for internet very recently but the timely reaction from the consumer
groups and intervention from the Govt agencies led to the reversal of the
pricing model. The regulator has been
asked to prepare a consultation paper and present its recommendations on the
same.
Going by the past record and the pressure being exerted by the mobile operator lobby (COAI), there is every
chance that the recommendations are going to be telco
friendly. The same was observed on the TRAI views on spectrum pricing which were completely misplaced.
Their view so far has been that:
·
the sector is highly capital intensive,
·
the
investment has been made by the telcos while the other people are making money
·
most
of the telcos are hurting financially
I do-not subscribe to the above views as the bidding for spectrum was done by them taking the considered view on business case for the same.
I do-not subscribe to the above views as the bidding for spectrum was done by them taking the considered view on business case for the same.
Impact on us
My recommendation on the same is that if we try to curb the
openness of internet it will
- impact creativity as every now and then we have new ideas cropping up and germinating into a full fledged business model. Had we not had the openness of internet, our home grown organisations like Flipkart, naukri etc would not have been there.
- Secondly, it will impact our monthly telecom spends as most of the content that does not reside on the telco network will be charged at a premium which means you may have to pay more to access a video on youtube or using Whatsapp etc.
- Thirdly, telcos cannot govern which social networking site should I use and cannot govern my right to access internet freely.
What can you do?
1.
I request you to spare a little bit from your
busy schedule and sign the petition over at https://www.change.org/p/rsprasad-trai-don-t-allow-differential-pricing-of-services-let-consumers-choose-how-they-want-to-use-internet-netneutrality
2.
You can write a short note to the minister Mr. Ravi
Shankar Prasad on his twitter.
Thank you for reading this
