Mukhtar Farooqi
Free Basics is Facebook’s non-profit initiative that aims to bring internet connectivity to the underprivileged in developing countries including India but has run into trouble here off late. Under Free Basics initiative, Facebook is offering a range of services for free to thousands of users but advocates in the country are strongly encouraging users to discard Facebook’s this initiative. The reason behind that being Net neutrality .But, what is Net neutrality? Net neutrality is the principle that Internet Service Providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating or charging differentially by the user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment or mode of communication. In simple terms Net neutrality means Internet Service Providers should treat all traffic on their networks equally so as to give everyone a fair chance of growth and reject the idea of monopolies. That means companies like Airtel should not block or slowdown access to any website or content on the web so as to benefit their own service over those of competitors. The term Net Neutrality was coined by Professor Tim Wu in 2003 in an academic paper titled “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination”.
The first debate that rose around the net neutrality earlier this decade revolved around data throttling, a practice that saw Internet Service Providers partnering with certain apps and websites to offer faster access to their users, with slow or blocked access to rival apps and websites. The concept of fast and slow lanes has since been outlawed in many countries and almost everyone agrees it against the concept of free and fair internet.
Most recently the debate on Net neutrality shifted from a no-throttling and no- blocking to zero rating platforms. Airtel was the first to announce zero rating plan by the name Airtel Zero where it will offer customers free acess to certain apps and services , with cost of this data traffic being borne by the partner. For example, if Flipkart signs up as an Airtel Zero partner, you will not be charged for data you use while accessing Flipkart and Airtel will bill Flipkart for that session.Flipkart after facing strong backslash for joining the Airtel Zero programme has withdrawn from it and came out in support of Net neutrality.
While zero rating plans like Airtel Zero may sound great on paper but experts say that it has drawbacks in the long run. They say that smaller companies who cannot afford to subsidize consumer access to their websites and services are likely to lose out, stifling innovation in the country which means fewer options for consumers in the long run.
What is Facebook Free Basics?
Free Basics wasn’t called Free Basic until September 2015 but was formerly known as Internet.org. Facebookhaslaunched the initiative in 15 nations thus far including India where it made debut in the name of Internet.org in February last year in partnership with RCom , the fourth largest carrier in the country. This was also considered to be against the essence of Net neutrality as Internet giants could easily afford to participate in such programmes putting new players at a disadvantage. After much pressure Airtel withdrew the plan completely after a slew of companies left after facing public outcry.
A Department of Telecom (DoT) panel report a few months later opposed projects like Facebook’s Internet.org in its recommendations while suggesting that similar plans such as Airtel Zero be allowed after prior clearance from TRAI.
Problem with Free Basic
Activists say that Free Basics is a zero rating platform in that it provides free access to limited number of services but not to all. That it is not bringing unlimited access to the Internet to people access to a very small subset of the Internet. In India, for instance, the company with RCom was to offer access to 38 websites and services. Free Basic users can’t access websites and services that aren’t approved by Facebook. This approach is against the basic fabric of Net neutrality .Facebook defends itself however by saying any website and service can apply to be a part of Free Basic.
The crux of the various arguments against Facebook’s Free Basic is that it is offeringaccess to limited number of web sites for free instead should offer access to every website on the internet.
No one’s opinion is as significant as that of Tim Berners Lee, theinventor of World Wide Web (WWW).He advised users earlier last year to say no to zero rating programmes such as Free Basic. He added that anything offered in the name of “Internet” which isn’t the “Full Internet” isn’t really free and public.
However the good thing with regard to India is that Facebook doesn’t have the authority to do whatever it desires and that authorities (TRAI) are taking public opinion into account before they can pass a network neutrality regulation.
What were the common users asked to do?
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) invited comments on a consultation paper on differential datapricingand consumers like me and you were asked to email those to advisorfea1@trai.gov.in. If we were against the Facebook’s Free Basic, then also had the option of logging into savetheinternet.in to quickly send a pre written response in this regard.
In response to this TRAI was supposed to submit its report by 31st January 2016 but did not submitt the same.According to a report published in Economic Times, the Prime Minister’s Office has stepped into the ongoing debate on Facebook’s Free basics and the issue of differential pricing for data services. The PMO had appointed a panel consisting of Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for PMO, Jitendra Singh. This panel, headed by IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, submitted its recomendations on the fateof Free Basics in India TRAI’s comments on the same.
TRAI has on 08 Feb 2016 finally ruled in favour of net neutrality, with a mandate that, “No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content,” and that, “No service provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being offered or charged by the service provider for the purpose of evading the prohibition in this regulation.”
A good news indeed for netizens.
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