DoT’s Net neutrality panel offers a mixed bag

DoT’s Net neutrality panel offers a mixed bag

The government panel on Net neutrality recently submitted its report to the government. The six-member panel was chaired by A.K. Bhargava, Adviser, Technology, Department of Telecommunication. The panel recommends that the core principles of Net Neutrality must be adhered to.

Important recommendations made:

• It has recommended that apps offering domestic calling be brought under the regulatory framework prescribed for telecom operators, but those providing messaging and international calling services over the Internet be kept free from licensing requirements.
• It suggests that controversial plans such as Airtel Zero be allowed with prior clearance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, but opposes platforms such as Internet.org of Facebook.
• Airtel Zero and Internet.org are similar as they offer customers a specific set of services or applications that are free to use without paying data charges. But on Internet.org, the committee says it is of the “firm opinion that content and application providers cannot be permitted to act as gatekeepers and use network operations to extract value, even if it is for an ostensible public purpose”.
• The report says over-the-top applications, which use the Internet to deliver services, enhance consumer welfare and increase productivity. Therefore, such services should be actively encouraged and any impediments in expansion and growth of OTT application services (such as e-commerce, radio taxis and YouTube) should be removed.

Background:

• The report gains importance as, for the past few months, a raging debate has been on in the country on Net neutrality, which, basically, is the principle that service providers should treat all data on the Internet equally and not discriminate against, or charge differently, any website or service.
• Globally, the debate has been on for a long time, but in India, Airtel triggered it last December by announcing plans to start charging subscribers for VoIP services such as Skype and Viber, which allows making calls using the Internet. While cellphone users came out against the move, telecom operators called for a level-playing field to run a “viable” business and demanded that same rule apply for same services, even VoIP.

Net neutrality:

Net neutrality 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.