BASICS
•India’s Department of Telecommunications has approved net neutrality rules that ban blocking, throttling, and zero-rating internet data, with some exceptions.
•The framework, published last year as a recommendation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), is the culmination of a years-long campaign for net neutrality in India.
BANDWIDTH THROTTLING
•Bandwidth throttling is the intentional slowing or speeding of an Internet service by an Internet service provider (ISP).
•It is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion.
ZERO-RATING INTERNET DATA
• Zero rating is the practice of not charging customers for data use on specific websites and services by Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile service providers (MSPs).
• Zero rating can be used by providers to create more tempting limited data plans for customers while favoring their own, affiliate or popular sites. Websites and services in this arrangement can pay the provider to be zero-rated and generally receive an influx of traffic from otherwise limited data customers.
•The new rules prevent “any form of discrimination or interference” with data, including “blocking, degrading, slowing down, or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.”
•But they don’t apply to “critical IoT services” or “specialized services,” including autonomous vehicles and remote surgery operations
BACK IN THE US, USERS ARE STILL FIGHTING
•The Obama administration had strongly advocated net neutrality rules in the US but in 2015, US telecom regulator Ajit Pai announced rolling back of those rules, which treated internet service providers like public utilities.
•This is when the discussion started worldwide about what a free internet is, including in India. Despite enough public discourse and uproar over the last three years, the US repealed net neutrality rules in June. Activists are working tirelessly in the US to make their internet free and fair as well.
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