Disappointed but won’t give up on connecting India: Zuckerberg

On Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the “Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations 2016”; thereby blocking social network Facebook’s controversial “Free Basics” Internet service which gives people free, but limited, Web access on mobile devices. According to Mark Zuckerberg, with internet connectivity, poverty will be reduced; millions of jobs created, and increase education opportunities. “Internet.org has many initiatives, and we will keep working until everyone has access to the internet”, adds Zuckerberg.

Facebook’s Free Basics plan came in from major criticism from experts who alleged that it curbed one’s freedom to access the Internet of their choice. But founder Mark Zuckerberg is still firm that the company will continue to get more Indians online.

Facebook had launched a massive advertising campaign in its bid to explain that Free Basics will benefit the poorest in the country without internet access.

Cyber law expert Virag Gupta on Monday said the ruling out differential pricing for Internet services and supporting net neutrality by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will ensure free internet services to the masses in the country and will specially benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Startup” and “Digital India” programme. Instead, regulators are banning it on false claims that people will be left with fewer choices as a result of Free Basics.

Apart from Free Basic Program of Internet.org, Facebook is also actively working on other programmes that falls in the periphery of TRAI norms. “That mission continues, and so does our commitment to India”. This, in other words, means that, Free Basics in its current form is illegal in India.

The program would use the same concept as those used by other ISPs, which offer access to zero-rated services to encourage their subscribers to use those programs more often than the others.

Instead of trying to make select parts of the Internet available for free to certain Indians, Facebook could now look at making a little larger part of the Internet accessible faster for a larger number of Indians. Net Neutrality’s arguments in this context focus on the negative impacts of such services on competitors. Free Basics was a $1billion project initiated by Facebook back in 2013.

Check out more for Zuckerberg’s response…