Victory for the unconnected; zero rating blocked in India. This newsletter has been specially created to celebrate the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s support of an open and unbiased internet in India by passing regulations that prohibit differential pricing for data services in the country. This newsletter contains a press release, a retrospective of the battle against zero rating and links to various resources and press releases from India and abroad. Press Release – TRAI stands up for the voices of the unconnected; blocks zero rating in India.On Feb. 08, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its “Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations” — effectively banning differential pricing arrangements (such as zero rating) for internet access. The Digital Empowerment Foundation wholeheartedly welcomes these regulations and congratulates the Authority on its decision. The regulations disallow service providers to offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content being accessed by a consumer. This move effectively bans zero-rated services as a necessary measure to keep the internet open and non-discriminatory. “This ruling will serve to increase internet penetration, entrepreneurship and opportunities for NGOs to take up the cause of increasing digital uptake”, said Osama Manzar, Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation. TRAI has specifically given five set of following guidelines: 1. No service provider can offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content. 2. No service provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being offered or charged by the service provider for the 3. Reduced tariff for accessing or providing emergency services, or at times of public emergency has been permitted. 4. Financial disincentives for contravention of the regulation have also been specified 5. TRAI may review these regulations after a period of two years. They come after a nearly year-long process that saw one of the largest mobilisations of individuals online in recent Indian history to come out both, in The regulations are quite clear regarding the prohibition of any discriminatory tariffs on the basis of content and any agreements towards the same. TRAI has the final authority on making a decision if any service provider is acting in contravention to this principle. The Authority has also pointed out that exceptions include services in the field of health and law and order, or areas that are affected by natural disasters. Chairman RS Sharma pointed out that certain communication services could be temporarily Last year, TRAI released a consultation paper seeking views and suggestions on whether differential pricing should be allowed, amidst a nation-wide net neutrality debate. The regulator wanted to know the steps that can ensure the principles of non-discrimination and affordable internet access. In response TRAI received over 24 Lakh (2.4 Million) responses from civil society, industry bodies, individuals across the country. On the heels of this victory, we encourage further attention to the DEF, along with other civil society organisations, has previously submitted multiple statements in support of network neutrality to the TRAI.
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TRAI Vs. Not-So-Free-BasicsA collection of tweets that present a sampling of the various reactions to the TRAI ruling against differential pricing. <![if !mso]>Check out TRAI Vs. Not-So-Free-Basics on Storify<![endif]>
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Some interesting linksInternetRights.In DEF’s presentation on Net Neutrality – A presentation on net neutrality made by DEF staff, Syed Kazi and Rajat Kumar to new trainess at the Centre for the Development for Advanced Computing, NOIDA. |
DEF’s submission on consultation paper on OTT services DEF Submission on Differential Pricing for Data Services Submission to TRAI by a coalition of 10 CSOs in support of net neutrality – A coalition of CSOs including DEF made a detailed submission to TRAI urging the regulator to uphold network neutrality |
India supports the open internet! – A short retrospectiveAbstract The story of the battle for network neutrality in India began, in earnest, almost a year ago. One of the two major battles currently underway has been won; with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India standing up for the voices of the unconnected and ensuring that service providers cannot engage in differential pricing for data services such as zero rating in India. This piece recounts the story leading upto the One of the greatest online campaigns in Indian history over the status of the free and open internet ended recently in a victory. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) passed the Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016 (PDF). These regulations contain five specific guidelines:
The regulation also upholds the treatment of the internet as a public good, that is managed in trust by the regulator and also blocks any move by any service provider to act as a gatekeeper. While not addressing the ongoing debate of network neutrality directly, the ruling does have far reaching implications in the overall rhetoric. Network Neutrality is defined as a situation in which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide no competitive advantage to specific apps/services, either through pricing or Quality of
The battle for network neutrality began in March, 2015 with the launch of Airtel Zero and Internet.Org that claimed to provide free access to a select bundle of services. The outcry around the launch led to the release of the TRAI Consultation Paper on the Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top Services (PDF). The paper sough to clarify the treatment of applications and services which are accessible over the internet and ride on operators’ networks offering internet access services e.g. social networks, search engines, amateur video aggregation sites etc (Source). The penetration of the internet in India has created an immense playing field on which individuals, TSPs, ISPs, Content providers, industry bodies and CSOs were able to deliver over 1 million responses to TRAI. The Indian comedy troupe All India Bakchod (AIB) uploaded its famous “AIB : Save The Internet” video on By the end of 2015, while AirtelZero was left more-or-less abandoned (Source), Facebook Individuals in support of network neutrality once again banded together to stand against Facebook and Reliance. This led to renewed efforts by Facebook, Reliance and certain industry associations to gain support of FreeBasics. They gathered over 12 million responses in support of FreeBasics, by prompting members of its massive user base to fill out a web form with a generic message in favour of FreeBasics. However, by the end In Early January 2016, an epistolary argument had broken out between TRAI and Facebook regarding the generic text contained in responses gathered through Facebook (PDF 1) (PDF 2). TRAI organised an open-house discussion (OHD) in late January to gather any In a scenario where TSPs cannot restrict or control the choices of consumers, there will be a shift to an extremely high proliferation of digital content and services, Internet applications, mobile apps, start-ups and entrepreneurship. This ruling should also enable major innovations The prohibition of differential pricing for data services heralds an age supporting the freedom of choice for the vast number of users in India that would be coming online in the next few years. The World Development Report 2016, released in January lists India as the country with the largest number of offline individuals at 1.063 billion, a little less than the next three largest offline populations in the world; China, Indonesia and Pakistan. The government has multiple plans and |
Selected News Coverage of the TRAI RulingFacebook ‘colonialism’ row stokes distrust in Zuckerberg (BBC) India introduces net neutrality rules barring Facebook’s free Adhering to basics and freedom (The Hindu) Trai’s decision on net neutrality: Marc Andreessen snubs India (Times of India) What do the British Raj and Facebook Free Basics have in common? A lot, actually (Quartz) |
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