Indian Telecom Watchdogs Get 18.27 Lakh Responses on Free Basics

The industry group said also that even the pricing models suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in a discussion paper on differential pricing for data services contravene the watchdog’s own stated principles of being non-discriminatory, transparent, non-predatory, and non-misleading.

“Trai should not reject any proposal that offers free services to general public including the one being offered by Facebook under the brand “Free Basics”,” Telecom Watchdog in its comment over Trai’s “Consultation Paper on Differential Pricing for Data Services”.

Earlier this month, Trai had asked Reliance Communications to keep Free Basics in abeyance till the issue on differential pricing is sorted out.

But in India, when Facebook tried to give away limited Internet access through its “Free Basics” app, activists said they didn’t want it. In fact, they attacked the social media giant for violating the core values of the World Wide Web. However, a majority of these responses -around 14 lakh – did not provide any answer to the questions posed by the regulator, and supported Free Basics.

Facebook is trying to adapt its service to meet the needs – and demands – of its potential users. He called “Free Basics” a first step toward “digital equality”.

Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, in a letter to the TRAI supporting Net Neutrality, said, “If you dictate what the poor should get, you take away their right to choose what they think is best for them”. It would put small content providers and start-ups that don’t participate in it at a disadvantage, they say.

The Free Basics program, part of Facebook’s ambitious yet disputed Internet.org plan, ostensibly aims to bring internet service to billions of people in developing nations. Now, there is a rising wave of discontent being aired by the same proponents who argue that the Free Basics approach which offered some compromise is still offering Indians a bastardised version of an internet experience.

If the Free Basics service is paired with existing internet services like the Facebook and WhatsApp bundles, this effectively herds Zimbabwean internet users into specific silos, creating barriers for other services that local net citizens have yet to experience.