It's a free world: Netizens win Neutrality battle

 

Wednesday, 15 April 2015 - 7:45am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna | From the print edition

 

Many times in the past, Netizens have brought the mightiest of the mighty to knees. They did it again on Tuesday. The uproar over the disruption of Net Neutrality, which means non-discriminatory access to all Internet users, forced leading e-commerce firm Flipkart to backtrack from entering into a deal with the largest telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, that would have given the former an edge over its competitors.
The e-commerce company was the first to jump on to Airtel Zero, an open marketing platform that will provide its users mobile apps for free, while recovering the cost from a revenue-sharing deal with app providers.
Airtel also rushed to extend its full support to a non-discriminatory Internet and clearing misconceptions on its marketing platform. "Airtel fully supports the concept of Net Neutrality. There have been some misconceptions about our toll-free data platform – Airtel Zero. It is a not a tariff proposition but an open marketing platform," it said.
It further added that Flipkart's decision not to offer toll-free data service to its customers was consistent with theirs that Airtel Zero was not a tariff proposition.
There was a similar occurrence last year, too, when Airtel had to retrace its step after announcing that it would start charging for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services like Skype, Line and Viber.
It did so because of the backlash from Internet users. From the whiff of the ongoing debate, India's stand on the issue could well be shadowing the US', where a majority of the Net users favour 100% open Internet.
Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while announcing the formation of a six-member panel for Net Neutrality, displayed his inclination towards an unfettered Internet.

Bengaluru-based telecom consultant G Krishna Kumar believes India may go in for a selective Net Neutrality approach or a middle path with adequate checks in place.
"Net Neutrality or not, the hyper competitive landscape in our country will ensure quality will prevail over free access," he said.