India’s TRAI Stonewalled Facebook Free Basics

Everyone in the world should have access to the Internet says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook signs deals with mobile networks where they offer free mobile data access to a slimmed-down version of the Facebook website to encourage people to use the mobile internet.

Facebook’s controversial Free Basics service has now been permanently blocked by Indian regulators.

Trai on Monday barred all forms of differential pricing of data services, except during emergencies, delivering a big blow to Free Basics and Airtel Zero (Bharti Airtel’s differential pricing platform) while upholding the principles of net neutrality.

What reason is there for denying people free access to vital services for communication, education, healthcare, employment, farming and women’s rights?

In its ruling on net neutrality on Monday, TRAI barred differential pricing for Internet services.

“India’s telecom regulator made a decision to restrict programmes that provide free access to data”.

After India’s premier Internet watchdog, TRAI skittled Mark Zuckerberg’s mega plans for providing alternate Internet through his Free Basics, France is the latest country to tell Zuckerberg to bugger off.

“No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content”, the regulator ruled in its Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016.

Our work with Internet.org around the world has already improved many people’s lives. “Internet.org has many initiatives, and we will keep working until everyone has access to the internet” Zuckerberg added.

Zuckerberg said that Facebook’s mission was to make the world more open and connected. “More than 19 million people in 38 countries have been connected through our different programs”.

“Connecting India is an important goal we won’t give up on, because more than a billion people in India don’t have access to the internet”, Zuckerberg said.

“While we’re disappointed with today’s decision”, he wrote.

Vikas Pandey, digital producer for the BBC in India, said there had been an intense publicity campaign on both sides of the debate, with Facebook taking out front page advertising in national newspapers to defend the scheme.