Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg disappointed with TRAI’s decision favouring net neutrality

The order arrives just over a month after TRAI instructed Facebook’s telecom partner for the program, Reliance Communications, to suspend the Free Basics program.

The rule doesn’t prevent mobile operators from offering free data, as long as it can be used to access any content. “For instance, providing limited free data that enables a user to access the entire Internet is not prohibited”, TRAI wrote. Free Basics was already a bone of contention in India because it was not in line with Net Neutrality principles that dictate that people are discouraged from visiting other websites when certain services are offered for free.

In the past, Zuckerberg has tried to fight net neutrality concerns by comparing Free Basics to a person who sells apples choosing to give some of them away for free. We know that for India to make progress, more than 1 billion people need to be connected to the Internet. The agency’s decision disappointed Zuckerberg, as he said he plans “to keep working to break down barriers to connectivity in India and around the world”.

Everyone in the world should have access to the Internet says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. However, critics claimed that it works against the rules of net neutrality, according to which all material on the Internet should be treated equally by internet service providers.

“Allowing price differentiation based on the type of content being accessed on the internet, would militate against the very basis on which the internet has developed and transformed the way we connect with one another”.

In a somewhat bitter-sounding post on Facebook, Zuckerberg reiterated his belief that “everyone in the world should have access to the internet”. “More than 19 million people in 38 countries have been connected through our different programs”, he said.

This sparked an intense row in India over net neutrality, the principle that all network data must be treated equally. His company spent millions advertising their position and even ran special banners urging users to petition the Indian government to accept Free Basics. Whether Facebook will continue to use Free Basics with the slight adjustment in the program or it will come up with an altogether different program for India.