Things to know about Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality has been in the news and on social media these days. Everyone in the world is talking about Net Neutrality. Some people are in support of it and some are not. The debate over net neutrality has now snowballed into a national movement and this is good news for a consumer. Here are few things to know about Net Neutrality.

A neutral internet is one in which all the websites are equally accessible on all internet connected devices. All of these should be accessible at the same speed and one should pay the same amount for said data regardless of the kind of content one is looking for. The fuss triggered by Airtel Zero which is a new platform created by telecom major which allows other corporations to pay, so that user get access to a particular service for free.

The TRAI has put up a consultation paper on regulatory framework for over the top services (OTT) on its website. It defines typical OTT services as Viber, Skype, Whatsapp, Chat On, Snapchat, Instagram, Hike, Line, e-commerce sites, videos and gaming sites. The telecom service providers aim to more closely watch and control these OTT services so that they can charge more or differential rates.

Telecom and Internet companies have spent huge sums of money on setting up infrastructure and that cost needs to be recouped. Their argument is that hugely profitable companies that provide OTT services have built massive profits by utilizing neutrality. All of these companies use internet pipe for free and in turn profit from millions of consumers. As an individual one must care for net neutrality.

If one don’t care or support net neutrality then in future one will face difficulty in accessing data on internet. There will be fast lanes and slow lanes of internet traffic. A company which pays more to an internet provider will come under fast lane. Access to information could be controlled online. E-commerce or other business sites can pay internet providers to block negative reviews sites. One might have to pay more and separate for different type of content online. As a whole one must support net neutrality and make these things to stop happening in future. After all, Internet can make India a trillion economy and there will be no living without Internet.