Saturday, April 18, 2015

NET NEUTRALITY – CERTAIN ISSUES

Me and my wife had gone to Gangtok and Darjeeling to celebrate our 31st Wedding Anniversary. Coming back, I was just prodding over the newspapers of the last week and found a new issue Net Neutrality dominating headlines and editorials of all newspapers. Flipkart had broken dialogue with Bharti Telecom on Airtel Zero plan and entities like Cleartrip.com, Times Group and NDTV had walked away from internet.org. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released a formal consultation paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services, seeking comments from the public. Over 300,000  emails had been received by TRAI demanding Net Neutrality. As a responsible citizen of the country, I thought it my duty to participate in the dialogue considering  all aspects.

India has no laws governing net neutrality, which would promise all the internet users to be treated equally on the internet, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. The debate on network neutrality  started after Airtel announced to charge additional rates for making voice calls from its network using apps like WhatsApp, Skype etc.

It is being feared  that net providers will charge extra for navigating a particular site, higher speed , clear voice, free sites etc, thus giving benefit to big corporate whereas the consumers and the start-ups will be affected adversely. It is also observed  that they allow users to access a variety of mobile and internet applications for free; thus restricting the ‘free’ access to a select group of websites and apps and therefore sabotage the entire concept of keeping the Internet free.  It will not allow the new ideas to take birth  due to higher cost to small entrepreneurs and  start-ups for availing this infrastructure facility.

The other argument is that  Net is like a public park whose access roads have been privatized – by a 20 year lease via auction – at a huge cost to the firms that are leasing it. If they now want to  charge the vendors who are squatting on  it, what is so wrong with that?. It is the exercise of legitimate right  and then Constitution also allows everyone to carry on a trade or business in whatever way one likes – including giving things away for free.

Network is nothing but an infrastructure like road, rail, airport, port etc. On roads, different types of vehicles, including commercial vehicles ply; some are  air-conditioned, deluxe, semi deluxe and normal. In railways too, there are different trains - Shatabadi, Rajdhani, express and normal having different speed, facilities etc. Within the same train, different classes - AC First Class, two tiers, three tiers, sleepers and unreserved. Within the same class there are normal fare, tatkal, tatkal premium. (If someone wants to travel in AC First Class, how can we compel him to travel in sleeper class). Same is the case with airlines- different timing different fare – seat preference pay extra. In fact, airlines have refined the art without anyone protesting. It is only a matter of time before they charge for boarding and disembarking via the ladder and using the toilet.

In fact, it is left to the consumer, depending upon his pocket and requirement to use a particular mode, facility or  class of infrastructure. It also encourages competition in the market and forces the service providers to improve and provide better services. If government interferes with the market, facility providers will never improve their services. Ideally, market should take its own course, but, then, in reality whether market is allowed fair deal by the manipulators. 

Like the other infrastructures, internet is also a mode on which different telecom companies  ply  their vehicles and provide  services – different types, classes and facilities. If they charge differently, what wrong they do. As I have already said, it is the exercise of legitimate right but, again, can be exercised whimsically. In case they cartel or restrict access via restrictive practices, there is forum for that - Competition Commission. Government may make other stringent laws so that consumers and start-ups are not adversely affected. But, then, from experience we do not have faith on our politicians, governments and implementation of the  laws.

I request all my viewers to publish your rational suggestions in the comments below this blog which can be sent to TRAI in a consolidated form. Simply sending email of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to TRAI will not serve the purpose. It is not a referendum. Government is going to take a decision in the interest of the nation, consumers, small entrepreneurs and start-up; of course the interest of service providers will also not be ignored.

Please hurry-up. Time is short.

(The views expressed in the article are merely for academic purpose and are not subscribed by the organisation where the author is working)



2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. TRAI published email address of million of responders, hackers pull down the site.
    An example of "ETHICAL HACKING"...

    http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology-topstories/wrote-to-trai-on-net-neutrality-your-email-address-is-now-public/article1-1341404.aspx

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