This also includes freebies because, more often than not, consumers are not aware if it is in their best interests. Thus, TRAI must not only stop Airtel from proceeding with additional charges for VoIP, but must also keep tabs on price discrimination based on data usage. The operators also have a free hand to set their own rates for the data service and thus have no justification for levying specific additional charges. Telecom service providers already charge fees for providing the data service and any loss in their SMS or call revenues can be offset by the increasing volumes of data usage over the past several years. Now that the issues relating to net neutrality are finally in the limelight, the ball is in TRAI’s court to deal with the issues fairly. Providing free access to Facebook and Whatsapp alone is worse for net neutrality, as it discriminates between apps and creates a rigged playing field which can hurt the consumers in the long run.

It is not clear whether Facebook and Whatsapp, services which advocate net neutrality in other markets like the US are paying the service providers for preferential access in India but in either case, it is unlikely that a service provider would set up such a deal with any new app or company which is not yet a market leader in its field.įurthermore, the privacy concerns raised regarding the use of Deep Packet Inspection in relation to Airtel’s recent plan to charge more for VoIP, apply equally to the provision of free services, as companies might have to inspect the data packets to determine which app and for what purpose the data service is being used.Īgainst this backdrop, it becomes clear that Airtel’s plan to charge for VoIP, though in violation of net neutrality, was at least fair to the extent that it treated all apps using the VoIP protocol in the same manner and did not discriminate arbitrarily between two apps, for example Skype and Viber, which operate on the same protocol.

This can make it virtually impossible for a new app or a start-up company to compete with the established players. However, even free access to certain websites or apps violates net neutrality as, in effect, service providers are providing preferential treatment to specific apps and companies.

Aircel free whatsapp and fb