In the new ruling, the Telecom Regulatory Authority writes plainly that “no service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content”.
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“India’s telecom regulator made a decision to restrict programmes that provide free access to data”. He said, “Everyone in the world should have access to the internet”, which Internet.org was attempting to achieve.
The social network’s 31-year-old chief executive got slammed by Indian regulators Monday, who effectively banned Facebook’s “Free Basics” Internet service.
“Free Basics”, formerly known as Internet.org, offered limited Internet access to consumers who can not afford a broadband connection or smartphone data plan. But Zuckerberg argues that Free Basics, used by millions worldwide, is about bringing more people online.
Essentially, while being disappointed, Zuckerberg reaffirmed his commitment to India, which is Facebook’s second largest market outside the U.S., with more than 130 million users.
He further added, ” Connecting India is an important goal we won’t give up on because more than a billion people in India don’t have access to the internet. Mr. Zuckerberg believes that if we connect the offline people to the Internet, we will be able to create jobs for them, provide them with education opportunities.
The regulator’s ruling suggests that Free Basics, which was aimed mainly at millions of people in India’s poor rural areas, will not be allowed to continue in its current form.
It can make such a difference.
Facebook campaigned for Free Basics in India and Zuckerberg personally took on detractors in an op-ed for the Times of India.
The program would use the same concept as those used by other ISPs, which offer access to zero-rated services to encourage their subscribers to use those programs more often than the others.
And with that, Facebook’s Free Basics is dead in India. BJP also claimed that the decision is in line with vision of open and fair Internet and support to net neutrality and said it will give a strong impetus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a Digital India.
This move by TRAI came as a major to social networking site Facebook that had been promoting Free Basisc in India.
It said the prohibition was necessary to keep the Internet open and non-discriminatory. The Federal Communications Commission is now studying the zero-rating issue.
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Additionally, it was not just Facebook that was disappointed with TRAI’s verdict, but COAI as well. In fact, if you’d ask us, then we also think that connecting the world for free without any hidden agenda (or business) sounds too good to be true.
