India regulator deals blow to Facebook in Internet row
India regulator deals blow to Facebook in Internet row
58 minutes ago
New Delhi (AFP) - India's telecom regulator on Monday
dealt a blow to Facebook's plans to offer free mobile Internet through its
controversial Free Basics service, by outlawing differential pricing for data
packages.
Facebook has suffered a fierce backlash in India from
"net neutrality" advocates.
They say that because Free Basics only allows access to
selected websites, albeit free, it violates the principle that the entire
Internet should be available to everyone on equal terms.
While not ruling explicitly on net neutrality, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) decided not to allow what it
called "discriminatory pricing" for different data platforms or
content.
The regulator's ruling suggests that Free Basics, which
was aimed mainly at millions of people in India's poor rural areas, will not be
allowed to continue in its current form.
"Today we have come out with a regulation which
essentially mandates that no service provider shall charge differential pricing
on the basis of application, platforms or websites or sources," Ram Sewak
Sharma, chairman of TRAI, told reporters.
"Anything on the Internet cannot be differentially
priced, that's the broad point we've made in the regulation and that's where it
stands," he said.
On a visit to New Delhi in October, Facebook chief
executive Mark Zuckerberg spoke of his desire to help "the next
billion" -- the approximate number of Indians without the Internet -- get
online.
The technology giant had mounted an emotive advertising
campaign via newspapers and text messages in India, asking people to lobby the
regulator not to bar Free Basics.
India's 1.2 billion people make it a vitally important
market for Facebook, which is still locked out of China.
"While disappointed with the outcome, we will
continue our efforts to eliminate barriers and give the unconnected an easier
path to the Internet and the opportunities it brings," a Facebook spokesperson
said after the ruling.
Critics of Free Basics, which had been suspended while
the regulator's consultation was continuing, include many of India's leading
technology entrepreneurs, with activists describing it as a "poor Internet
for poor people".
The TRAI's ruling was a clear victory for net neutrality
advocates, who seek to prevent companies from restricting access to the
Internet, with the regulator saying it had been "guided by the principles
of net neutrality".
It added that it sought "to ensure that consumers
get unhindered and non-discriminatory access to the Internet".
There may be exemptions to the ruling allowing for free
or cheaper data packages in case of emergencies, TRAI said, adding that the
policy may be reviewed every two years or sooner.
A spokesman for mobile operator Reliance Communications,
Facebook's partner for Free Basics, declined to comment.
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