#IndiaWantsNetNeutrality: Airtel Tries To Save Face, Wants 'Zero' To Be A Hero

We are damn sure that when they envisaged their 'revolutionary' Airtel Zero platform, India's largest telecom provider never envisioned themselves at the eye of the Net Neutrality storm which has swept the nation in the past two weeks.

For the benefit of those who were living under a rock during the past few months let us revisit the events of the recent past. Airtel announced that it will launch its Airtel Zero platform which will enable users to use apps which have pre-registered (read bought a slot on the platform) with Airtel for free without data charges.

Indian internet activists quickly latched onto this and turned it into the WMD they were waiting for, in order to launch a full scale invasion on telecom giants who were trying to lure TRAI, India's telecom regulatory authority, in joining their alliance and letting them get away with violation of #netneutrality principles. In fact, we feel every Indian should join in this struggle for Internet freedom.

Here's another illustration to help you understand Net Neutrality:

Image: boomlive

Well, after over 7 lakh letters reached TRAI in support of #netneutrality, major brands decided that it was better to let status quo exist than be at loggerheads with its customer base.

Flipkart was the first to do a u-turn, after calling out foreign companies for violating the net neutrality in the first place. This was followed by the likes of Cleartrip leaving internet.org, a similar platform promoted by Facebook. All this while major brands like Amazon and our very own Times Internet (yep! we are very proud kids) have voiced their support for the movement and asked fellow brands to join the fight to #savetheinternet.

Times Group commits to withdraw from http://t.co/rpR9qR5yCi; appeals to fellow publishers to follow http://t.co/N3DmjKINrh #SaveTheInternet

¡ª Times Internet (@Timesinternet) April 15, 2015

All this while Airtel was vilified as the big bully, the goliath who will be taken down and the dark side which was trying to defeat the force (we feel rightfully so).

Airtel's lead Indian telecom providers in market share. Image: I Am Wire

Now, abandoned by its partners and fighting social media frezy alone, Airtel's top brass have decided it's time to clear the air and try to salvage whatever is left of our faith in south Asia's largest telecom company. In an open letter to customers, Airtel ceo Gopal Vittal writes:

Dear Customer

Over the last few days you may have seen a lot of conversation on our toll free platform Airtel Zero. It has been painted as a move that violates net neutrality and we have been very concerned at the incorrect information that has been carried by some quarters in the media as well as in social media. I wanted to take this opportunity to clear the air and reiterate that we are completely committed to net neutrality. Let me clarify.

1. Our vision is to have every Indian on the internet. There are millions of Indians who think that the internet is expensive and do not know what it can do for them. We believe that every Indian has the right to be on the internet. We know that if we allow them to experience the joys of the internet they will join the digital revolution.

2. Airtel Zero is a technology platform that connects application providers to their customers for free. The platform allows any content or application provider to enroll on it so that their customers can visit these sites for free. Instead of charging customers we charge the providers who choose to get on to the platform.

3. Our platform is open to all application developers, content providers and internet sites on an equal basis. The same rate card is offered to all these providers on a totally non discriminatory basis.

4. There is no difference between this and toll free voice such as 1-800. When a company selling an insurance product enrols into the toll free voice platform, customers who call the number are not charged but when they call a normal number they are charged. Calls are not blocked or given preferential treatment else our whole business would be jeopardized. Toll free voice helps the business owner engage with their customer. At the same time it provides the customer the benefit of reaching the business for free. Toll free voice is not a product or a tariff plan, it is merely a technology platform. We are simply taking the same concept of toll free voice to the world of data. As a result it is for the application developer and their customer to decide how data charges will be paid for. If the application developer is on the platform they pay for the data and their customer does not. If the developer is not on the platform the customer pays for data as they do now. Companies are free to choose whether they want to be on the platform or not. This does not change access to the content in any way whatsoever. Customers are free to choose which web site they want to visit, whether it is toll free or not. If they visit a toll free site they are not charged for data. If they visit any other site normal data charges apply.

5. Finally every web site, content or application will always be given the same treatment on our network whether they are on the toll free platform or not. As a company we do not ever block, throttle or provide any differential speeds to any web site. We have never done it and will never do it. We believe customers are the reason we are in business. As a result we will always do what is right for our customers.

There has been a deliberate effort by some quarters to confuse people that we will offer differential speeds or differential access for different sites. This is untrue. After all we earn revenues from data. If there are more customers who are on the Internet the better it is for our business. Our revenues are not dependent on which sites they visit because we charge on the basis of consumption of mega bytes not which site they visited.

In sum our platform is a technology platform and is open to all application developers and their customers. Our platform only provides a choice of how the data that is consumed is paid for by any of the two - the application provider or their customer. Whether any application provider enrolls on the platform or not is entirely their choice. All we have is a technology. We do not have a product or tariff plan that we have launched. We simply have a platform. And every application developer and their customer is free to choose in an entirely neutral way what they want to do.

In conclusion, we stand fully committed to net neutrality to ensure the goals of the Prime Minister's vision of digital India are met.

Regards,

Gopal Vittal

MD & CEO

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

India & South Asia

We have no clue what the letter aimed to achieve. Was it just trying to bog the minds of their customer with tons of words so that he just quits thinking about net neutrality or does it have a cryptic message hidden in it (:P). Whatever be the point, the email is not going to do much of damage control cause it does not prove anything said by internet activist as false, neither it provides any additional information. What it does however is give an alternate point of view on the issue.

Do you think Airtel's approach towards spreading internet is more important than the issues of Net Neutrality. Do let us know in the comments!