The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is expected to issue its final recommendations in a month’s time on the issue of free data, which has been opposed by telecom service providers and some internet content providers alike. A senior Trai official told The Indian Express that the exercise was aimed to increase the overall consumption of data among telecom subscribers thus expanding the pie of data use in the country. However, the platform that could be proposed will have to be agnostic of the telecom service provider. For this purpose, the onus could be put on content providers wanting to pay for data used on their websites or apps. A senior Trai official told The Indian Express that the exercise was aimed to increase the overall consumption of data among telecom subscribers thus expanding the pie of data use in the country. However, the platform that could be proposed will have to be agnostic of the telecom service provider. For this purpose, the onus could be put on content providers wanting to pay for data used on their websites or apps.“There’s nothing wrong if a content provider wants to pay for the data consumed by a user on that provider’s website. But there can be no discrimination in terms of the pipe used to access the content,” the official said, suggesting that an internet company wanting to compensate its user would have to do so regardless of the telecom company he or she subscribes to. “There’s nothing wrong if a content provider wants to pay for the data consumed by a user on that provider’s website. But there can be no discrimination in terms of the pipe used to access the content,” the official said, suggesting that an internet company wanting to compensate its user would have to do so regardless of the telecom company he or she subscribes to. On May 19, Trai released a consultation paper on how to provide free data for consumers and whether a telecom service provider-agnostic platform was one possible solution. Trai in its paper asked if it was possible to give out free data as rewards to customers, and whether such models should be regulated. Through its consultation paper on free data, the sector watchdog is exploring equivalent of toll free number for internet space where customers can access websites without having to incur data charges. The regulator is looking at a framework, which should be compliant with the principles of net neutrality and it should be telecom network agnostic.The Trai has already prohibited tariff models such as Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero, under its discriminatory pricing order, as they discriminated against the The Trai has already prohibited tariff models such as Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero, under its discriminatory pricing order, as they discriminated against the content creators who cannot afford to subsidise their content, thus suppressing innovation and violating the tenets of net neutrality. In February, the Trai had issued a ruling that assures non-discriminatory access to the internet. In June, chairman of Trai RS Sharma, in an interview with The Indian Express, said that the consultation on free data was actually not at all contrary to what has been done. “Basically what we’ve done is that if you visit a website only if you’re being given a good treatment through one pipe and not through another pipe, that’s not really a correct architecture. If there is an architecture that gives the same treatment to anybody who comes through any pipe, that’s an acceptable architecture,” Sharma had said.Telecom service providers and industry bodies have questioned the jurisdiction of Trai in case it wants to frame rules on free data without involving the operators, while several other stakeholders have suggested that Trai defines the framework of net neutrality before setting rules for free data. Telecom service providers and industry bodies have questioned the jurisdiction of Trai in case it wants to frame rules on free data without involving the operators, while several other stakeholders have suggested that Trai defines the framework of net neutrality before setting rules for free data. The Trai official cited above said that soon an open-house discussion would be held on the issue, following which the recommendations would be issued.
