Net Neutrality

The principle of Net Neutrality means that telecom service providers and governments should not discriminate between data packets based on source, ownership or content. The principle is essential to maintain a level playing field on the Internet by ensuring all content is equally accessible to the public. 

The concept was in debate right since the inception of Telegram in the late 19th Century where preference was given to certain elite customers. In the 1990s, USA witnessed a exponential rise in the support base for Net neutrality. Coming forward, in 2003- Law Professor Tim Wu coins phrase Net Neutrality.

The two sides of the debate:

The net neutrality debate boils down to telecom/Internet service providers, on the one end, and OTT providers such as Skype, YouTube and Internet advocates, on the other.

Recent Developments:

• Airtel announced an initiative, Airtel Zero, a platform that allows customers to access a variety of mobile applications for free, with the data charges being paid by start-ups and large companies. Further, Bharti Airtel Ltd announced that it would charge customers for calls made using OTT services like Skype, Viber, Whatsapp which uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Airtel’s proposal had customers and advocates of net neutrality up in arms. 
• Facebook got together with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications to launch in India Internet.org, a zero-rating service that offers subscribers free access to a pre-selected bouquet of Websites. The move was widely criticised for violating net neutrality.

Being devil's advocate:

The telecom/ISPs  have made huge investments in broadband capacity. Therefore, they should be allowed to charge for the OTT services, which consume a lot of bandwidth. Telcos feel that since they “supply” the basic infrastructure, they deserve to “partake” of the goodies.  Some drop has taken place in international calling. The growth of OTT apps providing voice services has started to impact revenues of TSPs from voice services.

Why defend Net Neutrality?

• Net neutrality regulation, provides an incentive to expand the network to relieve congestion, rather than constrain the bandwidth for earning monopoly profits.  That is the beauty of Internet, an open platform, which allows innovation to thrive. 
• Lack of net neutrality supports a monopolistic market which will adversely affect the growing start-up ecosystem.
• If not defended, Freedom of accessing websites at choice would be curtailed. "Network" is a public resource and its "Democratic character" must not be tempered with.

In India, the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority’s stance on this is awaited.