Decisions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) have been under scrutiny for a while. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, 52, in his second Rajya Sabha term and a former president of business chamber Ficci, beside a record as an entrepreneur, including in the sector, has been a strong critic of the regulator. He talks to Malini…
Net neutrality is a slippery subject. Months after the government appeared to get greedy telecom companies in check, carriers have come up with another clever trick to make more money and jeopardize the open internet. The latest trick is something called zero-rating, and your mobile carrier probably already uses-or abuses-this net neutrality loophole. This week,…
Telecom regulator TRAI today proposed exploring models to give consumers free Internet service within the net neutrality framework, months after barring platforms like Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero under its differential pricing rule. “The consultation paper (on free data) is being issued to explore model(s) that could achieve benefits of offering free data while…
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a new consultation paper seeking comments from users and other stakeholders on the issue of free data. The paper was released on 19 May and is open for comments till 16 June. Comments can be sent to TRAI by an email to broadbandtrai@gmail.com. “This consultation paper…
Telecom companies might seek a ‘bypass’ solution and build an intranet, undermining net neutrality as we see it. While this can be used for only proprietary content, a walled garden threatens TRAI’s net neutrality order.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) order to maintain price equality on content faces the danger of being breached as some telecom companies are understood to be working on a “bypass solution” through virtual private networks or intranet.
New 4G entrants may try to disrupt the market by offering data for free. This prediction by Rajiv Sharma, an analyst with HSBC Securities and Capital markets India, may be music to the ears of many who are itching to get on the 4G bandwagon and are already using the promotional offers rolled out by…
Net Neutrality is a really stupid, anti-capitalism policy – that outlaws on the Internet several basic, fundamental free market tenets that are in practice in every other sector of a functioning economy. How anti-capitalism? College communications professor and avowed Marxist (please pardon the redundancy) Robert McChesney wrote: “(T)he ultimate goal is to get rid of…
Despite aggressive efforts to promote universal connectivity in India, Facebook just struck out. India’s telecom regulator has blocked the company’s Free Basics service as part of a ruling that supports net neutrality. The decision follows nearly a year of escalating conflict between Facebook and the country’s net neutrality activists, who argue Free Basics violates neutrality by…
The fight for net neutrality in India continues with major players submitting their comments to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). After broadcasters like Star India and Sony Pictures Networks India sent in their comments to TRAI, now putting forth its views in favour of net neutrality, the Subhash Chandra led Zee Entertainment Enterprises…