Department of Telecommunication has approved net neutrality rules in India that ban blocking, throttling and zero-rating internet data with some exception for critical IoT services and specialized services. The Report which is submitted by TRAI to the Department of Telecommunication is now implemented by the Government.
As The Wire reports, the new rules prevent “any form of discrimination of interference” with data, including “blocking, degrading, slowing down, or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.” But they don’t apply to “Critical IoT services” or “Specialized services”, including autonomous vehicles and remote surgery operations – which The Wire says TRAI head R.S Sharma compares to ambulances that can legally disobey traffic rules, or in this case, get prioritized status to maintain services quality.
All the Internet Service providers (ISP’s) needs to renew their licenses with new guidelines according to the Telecommunication Department of India. ISP’s that violate these rules could have their licenses canceled.
In 2016, Facebook started a campaign with the name of the FREE BASIC INTERNET which gave this wealthy company an unfair advantage over local startups. These types of the campaign are not possible after the implementation of these new NET NEUTRALITY Rules. The ISP’s could not favor any of the websites by charging them.
In the end, though, Facebook’s campaigning has come to nothing. The TRAI’s newly-instated “Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations” states that providers cannot “offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content being accessed by a consumer” – that is to say, they can’t offer content for free. In a press release, the TRAI notes that its decision was “guided by the principles of net neutrality,” and that its end goal is “to ensure that consumers get unhindered and non-discriminatory access to the internet.” Whether or not it achieved this goal is sure to be debated in India and around the world.
The Telecom Regulatory of India effectively banned Facebook’s Free basics program from the country, ruling that the system and others like it violate the principles of net neutrality.
Throttling is also banned in these new Net Neutrality rules in India – “Throttling is a process of minimizing the bandwidth on any website which results in slow loading of the website”.
India is welcoming the New Net Neutrality rules, hope to see effective changes in the Internet Regulatory.
This rule is a good example for the world on Net Neutrality.
