let telecom firms look elsewhere for profits
The Internet must be a level playing field. Period. This is what the current debate about Net neutrality is all about. The debate gained momentum here after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India put out a consultation paper arguing against Net neutrality. The Trai paper supports the view of telecommunication companies that they should be allowed to charge the consumer additional money for access to different websites and mobile phone apps.
The telecom companies have invested crores of rupees in buying spectrum licences and setting up expensive infrastructure. Additionally, Internet companies and mobile apps, like the popular messaging service Whatsapp, are riding on the backs of telecom service providers and eating away into their profits. Therefore, the telecom firms want a share of the profit pie. Trai backs the contention.
This is an ingenious argument. For their investment in spectrum licences and mobile phone towers, telecom companies charge money for data and voice plans — and nobody is taking that away from them. What the telecom companies are now trying to do is charge the consumers for accessing sites and apps of their choice. The bait is that a handful of other sites and apps will be available for ‘free'.
For example, under the Internet.org plan, launched by Reliance Communication and Facebook, access to the search engine Bing, the travel site Cleartrip and the shopping site OlX is ‘free'. However, if consumers want to access the search engine Google or the travel site Makemytrip or the shopping site Quikr, they will have to pay additional charges. Also, connection speeds to these ‘alternate' platforms may be terribly slow. This is problematic on multiple grounds.
First, nothing is actually free because the telecom companies are still charging for a data plan. Therefore, their argument that such packages will make the Internet more accessible to the poor, is invalid. Second, having already bought a data plan, it is only fair that the consumers have the right to access whichever site or app they want, without penalties. Third, all Internet companies should have equal access to the marketplace, without having to pay a hafta to the telecom companies at the entry gate.
It is because the Internet has always been an equal opportunity host that companies like Facebook and Google, which began as small start-ups, have become Net giants today. The Internet encourages entrepreneurship and innovation. Most telecom companies, unfortunately, haven't been able to keep pace with the changing technology. For example, they were charging a bomb for sending video messages when Whatsapp came along and made the facility free, fun and easy. Now, the telecom companies want to make others pay for their failures. This is unacceptable, and the people are saying so in no uncertain terms, as the backlash demonstrates.
The outcry has led to some initial success. Flipkart, one of India's most popular retail sites, has backed out of the Airtel Zero platform which apparently violates the principles of Net neutrality. There is also significant political support to ensure that the Internet remains equally accessible to all, with the Union Government having set up a committee to look into the matter.