Comes out with a series of recommendations after a long process of consultations on the issue.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday came out in strong support of Net neutrality in a series of recommendations, following a long process of consultations on the issue.
“The licensing terms should be amplified to provide explicit restrictions on any sort of discrimination in Internet access based on the content being accessed, the protocols being used or the user equipment being deployed,” TRAI said in the recommendations.
The content mentioned includes all content, applications, services and any other data, including its end-point information, that can be accessed or transmitted over the Internet.
The recommendations have been arrived at based on the pre-consultation paper issued in May 2016 to identify key issues and a detailed consultation paper in January 2017 that focussed on requirements, design, scope and implementation of Net neutrality framework in India. Based on the responses received, open house discussions were held in three cities.
“The service providers should be restricted from entering into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory treatment based on content, ender or receiver, protocols or user equipment,” TRAI made it clear to service providers in the recommendations.
In February 2016, TRAI had barred telecom providers from charging differential rates for data services in its Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016, effectively blocking such attempts by Facebook and Airtel.
