Until a few weeks ago, most web users in India hadn't even heard of a
concept known as net neutrality. But now there is a debate raging on
this topic.
So what is net neutrality and why the Indian web
users are excitedly, and sometimes angrily, talking about it? We explain
the whole issue to you in this handy guide and tell you why you should
or should not care about it.
What is Net Neutrality?
Internet
is inherently neutral (more or less). The father of the world wide web,
Tim Berners-Lee himself revealed that it was designed as neutral
medium.
"When I designed the Web, I deliberately built it as a
neutral, creative and collaborative space, building on the openness the
Internet offered. My vision was that anyone, anywhere in the world
could share knowledge and ideas without needing to buy a license or ask
permission from myself or any CEO, government department or committee.
This openness unleashed a tidal wave of innovation, and it is still
powering new breakthroughs in science, commerce, culture and much more
besides."
This neutral character of internet comes from the concept of net neutrality that is at the centre of it.
As
Sir Tim Berners-Lee puts it, net neutrality at the core means "each
'packet' of data must be treated equally by the network". He further
emphasises that there should be no censorship and the state should not
restrict any legal content by the citizens.
You can read more about net neutrality here
Why is it important?
Purely
for the sake of innovation on the web, net neutrality is imperative. If
the fabric of the net was not neutral back in the 90's, then we
would've existed in a world without the likes of a Google and Facebook.
Now, the irony is that some of these big internet companies are in
cahoots with telecom operators and are in ways breaking the fabric of
the internet.
The principle of net neutrality can be broken in
many ways. In the US, some service providers toyed with the idea of a
'fast lane' for certain services. Even in India, Airtel, decided to
charge extra for Internet VOIP services like WhatsApp, but thanks to a
timely backlash on social media, it decided against to go ahead with the
plan.
The basic idea is that every packet of data has to be
treated normally - in terms of speed, access and cost for the sake of
innovation and long term health of the world wide web, and more
importantly to avoid fragmentation.
Why are web users angry with Airtel and Flipkart?
Airtel
has come up with a new marketing platform called Airtel Zero. Through
this plan developers who sign up for Airtel Zero will pick up the data
charges for parts or all elements of their app, hence making the data
charges for the app free for the consumers. So, it has been reported
that Flipkart has signed up for Airtel Zero, which means that users of
Airtel's network will get access to the Flipkart app without any data
costs.
Read More -
Airtel with help of Flipkart breaks net neutrality
So what Airtel and Flipkart seem to be doing wrong?
On
the face of it, it looks like a great idea, but this is just a case of
fluffing around the details. What happens to a Snapdeal, Amazon on
Airtel. For a consumer for whom, the data charges are an expensive
proposition, he/she will naturally gravitate towards Flipkart over
Amazon or Snapdeal.
Airtel for its part says that it is
non-discriminatory and the charges and speeds will remain the same for
all who sign up. But what happens, if there's a new e-commerce site that
can't afford Airtel Zero? The venture is already handicapped no matter
how innovative it may be.
Worse if you are on a network like
Vodafone or Idea. They don't have such a plan in place, so app
developers and users will naturally gravitate towards Airtel. That said,
this may not last for long as every telco will come up with similar
plans if the regulators don't intervene.
We could live in a
world where Snapdeal could work better on Vodafone, Amazon would work
better on Idea and Flipkart on Airtel. It will fragment the nature of
the experience and its cost. These services will also be known as zero
rated services.
While Airtel claims that it will not make any
changes but time and again telecom operators have shown that they cannot
be trusted.
Read more -
Airtel clears air on net neutrality
Read more -
Airtel Zero has everything to do with net neutrality
What are the regulators and government doing about this?
Unfortunately,
as Net Neutrality is such a new concept there are no regulatory rules
regarding it. TRAI, the telecom regulatory authority in India recently
came up with a paper for the formation of regulations regarding net
neutrality and the fate of over the top (OTT) Internet based services
like WhatsApp.
The big problem is that the TRAI paper seems to
be paying lip service to the telecom operators and ISPs. For instance,
it still defines broadband Internet at 512kbps, which essentially gives
full latitude to the operators to throttle speeds.
TRAI's
paper also says that OTTs are eating massive chunks out of the revenue
incurred by traditional voice services. While this is true, new age apps
like WhatsApp, Viber and Skype provide calls over the Internet which
are cheaper.
Eventually as the quality of the internet improves,
these apps could essentially replace the traditional voice call and this
scares the telecom operators as instant messages have killed the
revenue of the SMS and they are trying to stifle innovation so that they
can maintain the status quo.
To the credit of the government,
in the wake of the uproar, the department of telecom is looking into
Airtel's Zero marketing platform that could possibly offer preferential
treatment to internet companies and app developers.
Even
mainstream politicians like Tathagata Satpathy and Rajeev Chandrashekhar
have come out panning the TRAI consultation paper on net neutrality.
Read more -
Politicians slam TRAI stance on net neutrality
Read More -
13 stupid things the TRAI paper says
Read More -
Government looking into net neutrality issue
What you can do about this?
Actually
more than the government or TRAI, the average Indian is doing more to
save the fabric of the internet. Users have revolted on social media and
many people have started giving the Flipkart app '1 star' rating
because it is in cahoots with Airtel. Now that may not be entirely fair
to Flipkart but then that is how users are reacting.
Read More -
Consumers revolt over Flipkart Airtel deal
But
more important is that you reply to TRAI. Whether you support net
neutrality or you don't, share your views with TRAI as part of the
consultation process.
There is a petition on Change.Org,
which wants TRAI to not 'allow differential pricing of services on the
Internet & let the consumers choose how they want to use Internet'.
The petition has already 1,58,167 supporters.
A new website
called SavetheInternet.in has been created that allows people to make
arguments to the TRAI in favour of net neutrality within the framework
of its consultation paper. The deadline for the same is April 24th. The
website allows people to send email to TRAI on net neutrality in just
two clicks. You can use that.
If you want to write down your own responses to TRAI's consultation paper, do that and send it to advqos@trai.gov.in.
Last
but not the least, comedy group AIB has created a video explaining net
neutrality is a simple, funny and succinct manner. Go watch it to
understand the issue if you are still confused about it.
