I am sure most of you might have heard about Net Neutrality that’s been in the news for quite some time. Just like we have freedom of speech, Net Neutrality is all about freedom of net usage. The network operators should not discriminate between content – all content should get equal rights (i.e. speed and accessibility).
The telecom lobby are pressuring the Indian Government to regulate a framework to slow down things that affect their revenue. Take for example the mobile operators in India – Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, etc – etc. now these telecom companies were earning more with less user subscription over 5 to 10 years ago and now even with more subscription they are not earning as much as they should.
So what happened?
All these telecom companies are providing call, data and other services. The data services are hitting them hard. With more and more consumers using Facebook, Messaging, Twitter, Whatsapp etc, they have minimized the use of other services that are being offered – for example SMS’s – The SMS usage has reduced considerably ever since Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp evolved. And now Whatsapp has started offering voice calls using data networks.
With more and more consumer using data services the telecom operators are getting uncomfortable as it is hitting their revenue (I don’t think that is too much). The TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) are thinking if it is feasible to have a licensing for over the top apps and should operators be allowed to shape the traffic as per their needs.
In simple words they will decide what will be viewable / accessible when using their data networks, they can block certain services like WhatsApp, Viber etc that could hurt their revenue. The operators might also charge extra for Voice over IP services or ask the companies like WhatsApp / Skype to pay charges to telecom companies.
TRAI has asked Citizens to express their views you can find more details at TRAI Website.
Internet is all about freedom; it’s open and free and it should be that way. Speak out, share this article and comment below.
Want to make a difference check savetheinternet.in and netneutrality.in.