Facebook’s free internet service has been shut down in Egypt

Facebook’s partner in Egypt, telecom carrier Etisalat, began providing the Free Basics service two months ago.

Facebook’s CEO also went on to tell critics that instead of helping and wanting to give people access to some basic Internet services for free, they continue to destroy the initiative with false claims.

“We’re disappointed that Free Basics will no longer be available in Egypt”, the company said in a statement to AP news agency. Founder Mark Zuckerberg himself has taken the lead with the Free Basics push, personally lobbying with prominent startup founders and government officials.

IAMAI in a response to TRAI’s recent paper titled “Consultation Paper on Differential Pricing”, which questioned the pros and cons for zero-rating platforms, has said that even the models proposed in TRAI’s paper are in violation of Net Neutrality.

“Instead of recognising that Free Basics fully respects net neutrality, they claim – falsely – the exact opposite”.

If access to Facebook (and certain services which would come via Facebook’s platform) is free, it surely becomes a step against Net Neutrality.

“There is no reason to create a digital divide by offering a walled garden of limited services in the name of providing access to the poor”, they wrote.

The regulator said Facebook’s Free Basics service should remain on hold till the ruling on differential pricing comes up.

It is not the first time Facebook’s Free Basics service has run into trouble. “More than 1 million people who were previously unconnected had been using the Internet because of these efforts”. Airtel Zero initially started the whole net neutrality debate where it proposed charging users for calls made using mobile data, but fortunately, common sense prevailed and the network had to withdraw the plan following public outrage. In India under this plan users can access 30 websites including Facebook.

The IAMAI, with members like Google, Facebook and Twitter, said this in a response to a consultation paper released by TRAI on differential pricing that sought comments from interested parties.

As per SavetheInternet forum, the net neutrality principle says that internet service providers should not block or discriminate against any applications or content that rides over their networks.