Net Neutrality: Boon or Bane?

Popular perception is that due to Net Neutrality, small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive online. But without Net Neutrality, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will exploit their gatekeeper position and destroy the Internet's fair and level playing field.

The debate on Net Neutrality in India has gathered public attention after Airtel's announcement in December 2014, charging additional costs for making voice calls (VoIP) from its network using apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, etc. The company withdrew the plan within a span of one week.

On Jan 19, 2015, the Department of Telecom had set up a committee of stakeholders, including app makers, telecom companies, civil society and multi-stakeholder advisory groups to examine Net Neutrality in India. Till August 2015, there were no laws governing Net Neutrality in India.

Early 2006, the Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for the first time, invited opinions regarding the regulation of Net Neutrality from various telecom industry bodies and stakeholders. In December 2006, a consultation paper was published by TRAI noting that though the Internet had been neutral since 1998, private ISPs were allowed to begin operations.

The consultation paper further said that ISPs may discriminate against competing applications and content providers, which may affect services like Internet Telephony. The paper invited opinions from stakeholders on whether regulatory intervention was required or whether it should be left to market forces.

The telecom regulator in March 2015 released a formal consultation paper on the Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services, seeking comments from the public. However, the consultation paper was highly criticized for being one-sided and having confusing statements.

Providing relief to the general public, TRAI on February 2016, barred telecom operators from charging differential rates for data services, which prohibits Facebook Free Basics and Airtel Zero platform in their present form.

As per the directives issued by TRAI, no service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariff for data services on the basis of content. The prohibition was necessary to keep the Internet open and non-discriminatory.

It also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 to be levied per day, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakh, for any violation of these regulations by service providers. However, an exemption was being made for emergency services.

Ruling out case-by-case approval for plans that might be priced differently, the regulator said a clear policy should be formulated withno differential rates for data services.

"We had issued a consultation paper just about 60 days ago on differential pricing. We deliberated on the issue for quite some time. Anything on the Internet cannot be differently priced. This is the broad point that we have highlighted in the regulation," TRAI Chairman R S Sharma had said.

Moving forward, TRAI in November 2017, issued India's first ever recommendations on Net Neutrality backing the basic principles of an open and free Internet.

The key highlights of the recommendations were:

• Discriminatory treatment of content should be prohibited and Internet access services should be governed by a principle that restricts any form of discrimination or interference in the treatment of content, including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.
  
• A watchdog along the lines of BARC India was proposed for enforcing Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality laws across the world

In Brazil, the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet became a law on April 23, 2014. The law governs the use of the Internet in Brazil, through forecasting principles, guarantees, rights and duties to those who use the network as well as the determination of guidelines for state action.

In Russia, the Federal Antimonopoly Service approved a regulation blocking ISPs from throttling or otherwise blocking any websites apart from those blocked at the request of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, thus protecting Net Neutrality in the country.

In the United Kingdom, Plusnet was using deep packet inspection to implement limits and differential charges for peer-to-peer, file transfer protocol, and online game traffic. However, their network management philosophy was made clear for each package they sold, was consistent for different websites.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States has decided to dismantle Net Neutrality rules that prevent ISPs from charging websites more for delivering certain services or blocking others.

Is Net Neutrality important?

Without Net Neutrality rules, companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon will be able to call all the shots and decide which websites, content, and applications succeed.

They can slow down their competitors' content or block political opinions they disagree with and can charge extra fees to the few content companies that can afford to pay for preferential treatment relegating everyone else to a slower tier of service.

Net Neutrality is crucial for small business owners, startups and entrepreneurs, who rely on the open Internet to launch their businesses, create markets, advertise their products and services, and reach customers. We need the open Internet to foster job growth, competition and innovation.

Due to Net Neutrality, small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive online. But without Net Neutrality, ISPs will exploit their gatekeeper position and destroy the Internet's fair and level playing field.