Net Neutrality in India

February 14, 2017

I wrote this essay for my application to the LAMP Fellowship.

Net neutrality is a principle that requires that all data transmitted across a network be treated the same. Proponents of net neutrality, ranging from consumer rights groups to technology giants such as Microsoft and Twitter, argue that letting internet service providers (ISPs) control the treatment of data will lead to business malpractices such as blocking competitors’ websites. Individuals involved in creating the Internet, notably Tim Berners-Lee and Vinton Cerf, have argued for the greater digital rights and democratic freedom that accompany a neutral internet.

However, some economists and telecom corporations believe supporters of net neutrality fail to provide compelling reasons to add regulation considering the growing competition among ISPs. Citing how regulation stifles innovation and deters competition, arguments against net neutrality maintain that larger companies already possess better server infrastructure: thus, the internet is not a level playing field to begin with.

Since 1998 when private ISPs were allowed begin operation, a semblance of net neutrality had been maintained in India. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had started gathering public opinion on net neutrality in 2006 but had failed to rule for or against it. It wasn’t until 2015 that some of the largest internet corporations saw business opportunities in the lack of guidelines.

On February 10 that year, Facebook launched Internet.org in India - a platform providing free access to a tiny subset of the internet for phones with a Reliance connection. Two months in, Airtel announced Airtel Zero - a program that made some internet services free by letting the services pay for their visitors’ traffic. Both platforms violated net neutrality and were perceived as giving a competitive edge to large businesses who could afford to enter these walled gardens while smaller services stood the risk of losing traffic.

Following the public outcry, TRAI released another consultation paper. Stakeholders launched massive campaigns to sway public opinion - activist organisations SaveTheInternet and NetNeutralityIndia facilitated quick emails to TRAI in support of net neutrality; while Facebook was accused of astroturfing by asking users simplistic and misleading questions. In a revolutionary move, TRAI ruled in favour of net neutrality in February 2016 and stipulated that no ISP could offer discriminatory rates based on content. It also prohibited current contracts evading this ruling and specified fines to be issued on violation, making India a member of the ever-decreasing list of countries maintaining a content-neutral net.

There are other pending issues - technically, net neutrality also implies fair internet speed for all services. However, since 2012, there have been conclusive reports that ISPs such as Airtel and BSNL have been intentionally slowing down speeds of sharing services like BitTorrent. ISPs continue this bandwidth throttling without informing the user, possibly legally against the Consumer Protection Act (1986) . A consultation paper was issued by TRAI this January (open to responses till 28th February) inviting comments dealing with the quality-of-service aspect of net neutrality. Thus, the largest democracy in the world has yet another opportunity to set a strong precedent in favour of net neutrality.