Differential pricing: TRAI open house closes after ‘lively consultation’; decision by month-end

“It was a very lively consultation. The hall was full, a lot of people participated and gave their views, comments, thoughts and I think we will take all these into account. And we hope that by the end of this month, we will come out with our position,” Trai chairman RS Sharma was quoted by PTI as saying.

Stakeholders can send in their additional comments by Monday evening, Sharma said.

Asked if Trai will also come out with a consultation paper on Net neutrality, he said, “I cannot at this point of time say what Trai can do in future in the larger issue of Net neutrality, but we will certainly take a call.”

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While mobile operators and social networking sites such as Facebook argued in favour of differential tariffs, some social media organisations opposed them.

Telcos including Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Communications batted for differential data tariffs, saying in their absence innovation would be stifled; they also wanted such tariff packages be left unregulated. On the other hand, social media organisations like the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) argued that if mobile operators were allowed to offer differential data tariff it would mean end of equal access to the internet and thus the end of innovation.

“If we have only one type of tariff… it will stifle innovation. None of the telcos will develop different types of network if they are not allowed to go ahead with differential pricing of data services…” the Bharti Airtel representative observed. Reliance Communications was of the view that tariff forbearance has always been advantageous for consumers. Its representative claimed forbearance on tariff had resulted in an exponential jump in number of mobile phone users as voice tariffs had come down.

Those opposing these voices said access to the internet should be full and free and that there should be no restrictions. Users, they felt, should not be discriminated against and neither should the network be throttled.

Representatives of IAMAI, however, felt that if differential pricing for data services was allowed, smaller players might be left out and larger players alone would be able to comply with the new norms.

Trai had put out a consultation paper on the subject seeking responses from all stakeholders and followed it up with an open house session to enable it to frame rules.

Trai has said the perceived aim of such differential data packages, which provide free or discounted access to certain internet services, is to widen the internet user base in the country. As such it has offered two models. The first model it has suggested is that operators can provide initial data consumption for free, without limiting it to any particular content. The second model proposes that content providers reimburse the cost of browsing or download to the customers directly irrespective of which mobile operator they have used to visit the website.

FE & PTI