Net neutrality need of the hour

India with 1.27 billion people is the second largest populated country in the world. Nearly 10% of the Indian population is carrying mobile phones, out of which 6% are smart phones intended for Internet usage. Internet penetration through Personal computers and laptops is lesser than the mobile users in India. Statistics indicate clearly that mobile computing and Internet usage over mobile is increasing rapidly in India.

Modi government which claims that they advocate against digital divide, should immediately stop the actions of the TRAI which seems to be taking care of the operators welfare more than the common netizen. All state governments and the central government are trying to increasing online presence for their services on one hand and on the other hand TRAI is trying to create scare among users by encouraging monopoly over Internet sites and apps by telecom operators. How far is this policy correct?

Naturally telecom companies who invest huge money in spectrum wants to encash the growing opportunity. Telecom companies are also worried as people have started using online voice and message services instead of calling and SMS over mobiles. The growth of Whats app, skype and many other messenger services are taking their share eating into the telecom operator revenue.

The telecom companies though are benefited by net usage plans they want to gain more by applying monopoly over services offered by third parties and slowly make them proprietary. Initially services will be given at nominal or free of cost and once the subscriber base is reached to large size they will clamp charges as per usage of services. There is also a threat of certain apps or websites will be made available to only few operators and others may not be able to access them unless they are subscribed to that telecom operator. So there is a danger of restrictive trade practices taking place in this context.

The Government of India should advise TRAI not to dance to the tune of private operators in the name of earning more money to the state. Indirectly, TRAI is helping the operators to make Internet as a private estate. The issue of notification over net neutrality is uncalled for and TRAI has every responsibility to respect the freedom of netizens. Internet is not just a medium of communication for rich and affordable, but it is becoming an essential necessity for every citizen irrespective of their place of living. Internet developed with principles freedom without boundaries. TRAI and few operators cannot dictate the way internet is used. Every one would have welcomed if TRAI gave directions to telecom operators in such a way that operators who enable last mile quality connectivity to remotest citizen of India at lowest possible cost will get an additional % spectrum as an incentive. Revenue in service sector developed basing on the quality of services the service provider renders. We can clearly see this in cable networks. The cable network provider who provides set of quality channels without interruption is being preferred today than the operator who gives more channels at less price with lot of interruptions and low quality. Over 20 lakh petitions were signed against Internet monopoly till now and the number is increasing, this is also causing reversal of decisions made by ecommerce giants like Flipkart to tie themselves with specific operators.

So let netizens exercise their right to choose what they want on internet and with which service provider they want to go. Modi government who is known to be tech savy should protect the fundamental right to communication and Internet access.

By Raghu Bhushan Eranki