Why Every Indian Needs To Take Part In The Fight For Net Neutrality

You can dial any number and get connected instantly - it doesn't matter whether you're calling a restaurant or a drug dealer. Telecom operators don't block access to a number nor can they delay connecting you to a particular number, unless forced by the law.

Similarly, an Internet Service Provider should not be able to control the traffic that passes its servers. That mean you'll get the same speed for:

A website or web service
Youtube videos
Facebook photos
Porn
Email
Indiatimes.com (literally the most awesome site you know)

Net neutrality is at the heart of the internet - it allows unrestricted freedom to visit any website you like. You can even mock your own ISP on a blog post, and the ISP will not be able to restrict access to that post for its other subscribers even though the post may harm its business.

And, net neutrality also allows you to set up a website, without needing a lot of money or influential connections - all you need to do is to use a good web-hosting service. This is how Google, Facebook and Twitter were born.

What will happen if there is no net neutrality?

If there is no net neutrality, ISPs will have the power (and inclination) to make money from how internet traffic is used. For example, several ISPs believe that they should be allowed to charge companies for services like YouTube because these services consume more bandwidth than a normal website.

As a website campaigning for net neutrality explained, here's a 2 scenarios that can happen if net neutrality doesn't get formal approval.

ISPs want a share of the money that YouTube or Netflix make. Indian ISPs have already attempted to make more money from messaging apps like Whatsapp because these apps have virtually killed SMS in India.

What will your internet bill look like if there is no net neutrality?

There could be "package plans" for consumers. For example, if you pay Rs 500, you will only be able to access websites based out of India. To access international websites, you may have to pay more. Or maybe there can be different connection speeds for different type of content, depending on how much you are paying for the service and what "add-on package" you have bought.

ISPs might even charge web companies to enable faster access to their websites. Those who don't pay may see that their websites will open slowly at the user's end. This means bigger companies like Google will be able to pay more to make access to Youtube or Google+ faster for users but a young startup that wants to create a different and better video hosting site may not be able to do that.

What is the state of net neutrality in India?

Legally, India doesn't have net neutrality. According to Sunil Abraham, director of Centre for internet and Society in Bangalore, Trai (the telecom industry's regulator) has tried to come up with some rules regarding net neutrality several times. For example it invited comments on the concept of net neutrality from industry bodies and stakeholders in 2006. But no formal rules have been framed to uphold and enforce net neutrality.

However, despite lack of formal rules, ISPs in India mostly adhere to the principal of net neutrality. There have been some incidents where Indian ISPs have ignored net neutrality but these are few and far between.

So what is the fight for?

TRAI is taking feedback to form a policy to regulate services like WhatsApp, Skype, Viber and many others. The policy might allow telecom companies to charge you for every WhatsApp message you send, or pay normal phone charges for for Skype calls.

Whatever - the point is that there should be ZERO interference

What can you do

TRAI is consulting with YOU, (yes, you), to with a 20 question list to find out your views on two topics:

Should there be licensing of Internet services?
Should there be non-discrimination of Internet access via telecom operators?
Email the TRAI mail id advqos@trai.gov.in mentioning your support for net neutrality and against differential pricing and different speeds. Get your friends behind it too. The future of the Internet in India depends on it. The deadline is 24 April 2015, but the time is now!

With inputs from TNN