Net Neutrality win: How TRAI countered Facebook Free Basics push

There are two instances where the regulator seems to be taking on Facebook’s arguments pushing Free Basics as a service that will get people, who can’t afford data to access the Internet.

Firstly, it says “allowing service providers to define the nature of access would be equivalent of letting TSPs shape the users internet experience” and this can “prove to be risky in the medium to long term as the knowledge and outlook of those users would be shaped only by the information made available through those select offerings”.

Secondly, it questions how the same users who could not afford data “will be in a position to migrate to the open internet if they do not have the resources to do so in the first place”.

While Facebook has been in focus over differential pricing even though the reach of Free Basics in India is insignificant at the moment, what will have more impact for telcos and consumers is the part that says it needs to examine claims that volume-based discounts on popular applications through content -specific data packs could enhance user choice through the freedom to choose suitable data services.

It says Internet access is not a ‘search good’ but an ‘experience good’ that will be understood only after being used. So data packs that offer unlimited access to a certain type of app or service, like Whatsapp or Facebook, for a small fee will also become illegal.

Read the full order below

Regulation Data Service by The Indian Express