Facebook’s free Internet service shut down in Egypt

As per the earlier order, the deadline for comments on the paper was to end on Wednesday.

Commenting on the paper, IAMAI president, Dr Subho Ray, stated, “In addition to being against net neutrality, the differential pricing models suggested by TRAI prima facie also violate the regulators own stated principles of intervening in pricing”. These responses are not helpful at all…but we felt ignoring them is not a solution given that we have received the highest ever responses on a consultation paper, which shows that the issue is important to people.

Trai Chairman R S Sharma said that the authority has got about 18.27 lakh responses till now out of which 8.9 lakh through phone and 5.44 lakh through Facebook mail supporting Free Basics but the comments did not answer the questions asked by the regulator. This paper will determine the future of zero-rating plans as well as Facebook’s Free Basics project.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently asked Reliance Communications, which partners with Facebook in India, to suspend access to Free Basics while the authority scrutinizes the program’s terms and conditions. About 32% of Egypt’s almost 90 million people had access to the Internet in 2014, according to data from the World Bank. While Facebook argues for Net Neutrality laws in the United States, and supports permission-less innovation in that country, in India, it wants a permission-based Internet through its partnership for Free Basics.

Motorists ride past a billboard displaying Facebook’s Free Basics initiative in Mumbai, India.

In statements to AP, Facebook said that the program, which was launched two months ago, would no longer be available in Egypt.

Amid the billion-dollar promotional campaign run across electronic, print and the Web, founders and CEOs of nine Indian startups, including Paytm, Zomato and GoQii, have voice against Facebook’s Free Basics platform. That has activists concerned Facebook will choose what poor users see, while only wealthier users can buy full access.

“The net result of these offers is that it empowers/ enables the TSPs (telecom service providers) to select certain content providers, either through the platforms or directly, and offer discounted access plans to these websites/ applications/platforms”, Trai paper said.

The news comes the week after India’s telecom regulator TRAI ordered the suspension of Free Basics as it prepares to hold public hearings on net neutrality.