Sharma said that through the regulation one part of net neutrality — tariff — has been dealt with, the other part of either throttling or speeding up certain websites still need to be tackled.
“Our regulation is very clear. Anything on the internet cannot have discriminatory pricing. Integration between content and access provider is not allowed. We are against any integration between the two”, RS Sharma TRAI chairman
To clarify any grey areas that mobile operators may have on its regulation on differential tariff, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will soon publish a set of FAQs which will aim at answering in detail the kind of tariff packages which will be allowed and the kinds that are a strict no-no. Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of the Express Group, chairman RS Sharma said that he will also be sitting with the mobile operators to clarify any doubts they have on the regulation.
Sharma’s statement is important since the regulation that came into effect on February 8, while barring operators from offering differential data tariffs through select tie-ups with content providers on anything that is available on the internet, allows the same through some closed communication networks like intranet. This has led to doubts among operators on certain kinds of tariff packages they are offering.
Reiterating that the regulation was very clear in the sense that there can be no coupling between the content provider and access provider, Sharma explained when and how the closed communication network pricing will be seen as a misuse and against the letter and spirit of regulation. “If an operator has an app or any content arrangement under the name A which is only for its subscribers for free on intranet and another similar service under the name B which is open to all for a charge, it will not be allowed,” he said.
Elaborating with an example, he said that tomorrow if Indian Express buys a telecom operator, it cannot provide any of its content to its subscribers at a lower rate than to others if the content is available on the internet.“Anything on the internet cannot be discriminatory,” he said.
Highlighting what is allowed, Sharma said that if a content provider wants to promote certain websites, free of data charges, it can offer it if the same is irrespective of through which service provider (telco) the subscribers are accessing it. The content provider can directly reimburse the data consumed by subscribers. “So far there’s no integration between the content provider and access provider, it is fine. If Free Basics wants to follow this model it is fine,” he said.
Sharma said that through the regulation one part of net neutrality — tariff — has been dealt with, the other part of either throttling or speeding up certain websites still need to be tackled. While the tariff part is the exclusive domain of Trai, it could be done through a regulation, but for the other aspect a policy framework needs to be made, which is the domain of the government for which Trai will make recommendations, he added.