After banning Facebook's Free Basics, India reopens the net neutrality debate

A few months after rejecting Facebook's Free Basics program, India is trying to define net neutrality. The country's telecom regulator has issued a pre-consultation report that aims to debate the concept of a free and open Internet, and formulate an official policy on the issue.

In the pre-consultation paper, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is asking for views from six questions, including the core principles and policy towards of net neutrality. It also raises questions about reasonable traffic management practices for carriers. It has also asked for comments on customer privacy and safeguarding national security.

While TRAI has dealt with different aspects of net neutrality in three previous papers, this latest round of consultations aims at formulating a comprehensive policy on the issue. Stakeholders can send in their responses until June 21. 

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India currently has an estimated 375 million Internet users, a number that was supposed to rise to 402 million by the end of 2015, giving it the second-largest online user base in the world after China. Despite this impressive number, only a third of India's 1.25 billion citizens have Internet access.

In its landmark ruling in February, TRAI had banned discriminatory pricing of data and zero rating platforms such as Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel Zero, for violating the principles of net neutrality. The decision was a major setback for Facebook, which had launched a major marketing campaign to promote Free Basics, which was countered by a volunteer-led online coalition called Save the Internet.

“Given that a majority of the population are yet to be connected to the Internet, allowing service providers to define the nature of access would be equivalent of letting TSPs (telecom service providers) shape the users’ Internet experience,” TRAI had said.

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However, another new consultation paper issued by TRAI has led to a discussion among net neutrality activists over whether the body is reconsidering this landmark order on differential pricing. This paper aims at finding a model for providing free Internet within the framework of net neutrality. 

"We have no objection in general if someone decides to provide content free, or at a discounted rate," TRAI charmain RS Sharma told reporters, "if the same is made available to subscribers of all mobile operators."

This could be the inroad Facebook was looking to restart its Free Basics service in India, where it now has 148 million monthly active users, 95 percent of whom access it from their mobile phones. While Facebook had launched Free Basics only on one carrier in India, it had eventually opened the service for any carrier that wanted to have it. 

With strong carrier lobbies, no agreed definition of net neutrality and an aggressive community of activists, it seems we are likely to see another heated showdown between the stakeholders.   

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