While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be on leave taking care of his young and newly born daughter, he is now busy trying to persuade Indians of the benefits they will get from using his program known as Free Basics.
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This is definitely a huge step in our bid to keeping the internet neutral and shows what exactly the citizens of India want. According to an earlier report, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had said that different pricing models mentioned in the consultation paper of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) not only violate the core principles of Trai’s pricing regulation but also the principles of net neutrality.
This was the final poll results as submitted by Local Circles.
Out of the 30,000 people on whom the survey was conducted, a massive 81 percent have voted against Facebook’s Free Basics or any such program and supported that they want an unbiased/neutral Internet for themselves as well as their fellow citizens.
Facebook’s Free Basics packages Internet services for regions where Internet access is limited.
Telecom operators have supported differential pricing for data usage for accessing different websites, applications or platforms as they feel it is critical for promoting innovation in the Internet eco-system and bringing more people online.
Similarly, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has also opposed any model wherein service providers may have a say or discretion to choose content made available at favourable rates, speed and so on. And if Free Basics proved popular there would be little to stop India’s big media and e-commerce groups from creating rival offerings, to drive first-time surfers towards their web offerings.
Indian digital rights activists have been pushing back against Free Basics for months (comedians have even gotten involved).
On issues that should be considered in the present consultation on differential pricing for data services Asserting that TRAI’s public consultation on these issues is rightly guided by the goal of connecting the unconnected across India, Facebook said, “Despite significant progress, 80% of India’s population – 1 billion people – still are not connected”. Facebook’s efforts of reaching the other huge and untapped market might be hindered by the decision that finally comes from the Indian government. “Let them give the Free Basics on a trial basis”.
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Trai Chairman R S Sharma said recently that a large percentage of the record number of 18.27 lakh responses have been only about supporting the specific Facebook product without answering the larger issue of differential pricing concerning net neutrality.
