Unless you are living under a rock or have been camping on the moon for the past few days, you must have heard about the ‘net neutrality’ debate in India.
Net neutrality has come under threat with the Telecom Regulatory Authority India (TRAI) proposing to introduce selective pricing for different services.
But TRAI has also posted a ‘consultation paper’ asking people from across India to comment on the feasibility of the project. It has asked 20 questions and wants answers before 24th April 2015. Sounds fair enough, right?
Not really.
The paper is 118 pages long and full of jargon. It may as well have been written in Hebrew. Despite an abridged version of the paper and a set of prepared answers to the questions available online, there is confusion over the issues at stake here.
The Quint cuts through the noise and deconstructs the debate for you here:
Big Issue 1: Should Internet ‘Communication’ services (like Whatsapp, Skype and Facebook) be regulated because they impact the revenues of Telecom firms?
For instance, when you choose to to Whatsapp your friend, instead of sending the good old SMS, a telecom firm could say that is hitting their revenue.
Well, firstly - why a distinction between Internet services and ‘communication based’ Internet services? Most social networking sites, like Facebook, now offer both. That’s innovation. Licensing/regulation may stifle that.
Second - telecom companies have licenses because they use a public resource - spectrum. Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services connect to normal telecom networks where TRAI’s regulations already exist. So, why a separate license?
Third - traditional revenues of telecom companies do include revenue from data services. There is no data to show that data usage is eating into call and SMS revenues. Also, the more the demand for data (the more you use Whatsapp), more is the demand for telecom services (the internet pack you recharge to use Whatsapp)
Issue 2: Can non-price discrimination of services be introduced? If not, should Telecom firms bear Network upgradation costs?
One - some Internet services which telecom firms call ‘congestion’, may be useful for the user eg: overseas calls through data services. So, who decides the parameters of discrimination? Also, non-price discrimination may kill some data services. For instance, Airtel and online video start-up Ogle.
Two - Telecom firms and internet services have distinct functions. Telcos provide infrastructure to access content and data services provide platforms for users to create content. Telco revenues from data services are soaring. So, you should invest in improving your product/service, right?
Issue 3: What about Safety, Security and Privacy with regard to OTT players offering App services?
One - government and law enforcement bodies have the right to access data stored by apps for legal purposes, especially under the IT Act, 2000. Any additional regulations might lead to breach of privacy, especially in the light of the proposed Privacy Bill.
Two - the government and courts have blocked access to certain websites and requested user information from sites like Facebook and Twitter in the past. And while they do not accede to every request for data, they have responded in thousands of cases, so the mechanism is in place, and working.
These three issues broadly encompass the debate around net neutrality, though there are other complex nuances around the issue.
You can read the entire consultation paper by TRAI and respond to the questions by emailing your answers to advqos@trai.gov.in. Or you could email a set of prepared answers to the 20 questions posed by TRAI.
Whether you tweet, share, email, agree or disagree, the Internet is a service that is shaped, born and formed by users.
At a time, when its future is being decided in India, you should have a voice.