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When Indian telecom scene is facing the big question of <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword>, telecom operator <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> seems to be pulling the right plug by introducing '<keyword id="2796594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="airtel-zero">Airtel Zero</keyword>', an open marketing platform that will allow customers to access mobile applications at zero data charges. A news report in The Economic Times confirms, the company has claimed that the latest platform will be a big win for customers as it will allow them to access mobile applications at no data charges, and also encourage them to try out new applications. 
 
The platform, as claimed by the telco, can work as a highly efficient marketing mechanism for small developers or startup shops that face budget constraints towards driving promotions and app downloads. This freebie will encourage dormant customers and pull in new users to experience the apps tied up to Airtel. 
 
However, as per reports by The Times of India, Airtel’s new move violates the principles of net neutrality as the company will offer an advantage to certain players in terms of cost of access and will even promote them. While the Telco will gain revenues, the app developers would need to pay extra to make sure more subscribers are encouraged to access their products. 
 
A few days back, TRAI had floated a consultation paper on net neutrality, which implies that telcos cannot block certain apps or websites and promote a few. 
 
(Image: India Times)

Accessing apps may soon be free but not fair. Here’s why.

India’s telecom arena is fighting an inner conflict of to be or not to be on the issue of <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword>. In this crucial juncture, <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> acted smart and introduced <keyword id="2796594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="airtel-zero">Airtel Zero</keyword> yesterday where companies, including startups, can let users access apps for free. In effect, the app maker will pay for the customer's free usage to the operator. 
 
We have reported earlier that this will affect net neutrality. As per a news report in The Economic Times, this move has been severely criticized by the experts including Internet &amp; Mobile Association of India, whose spokesperson has said that, all apps should be made accessible to users on a non-discriminatory basis, not just a few. 
 In a bid to defend the same, Airtel's <keyword id="2798199" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Director-for-Consumer-Business">Director for Consumer Business</keyword> Srini Gopalan told the ET, “No bandwidth is allocated whether an app is on Airtel Zero or not and there is no impact on performance of the app.” He said Airtel has worked with 10-20 apps, including large eCommerce players and smaller startups on the platform on a pilot basis over a couple of months, which has resulted in a 65% drop in the digital spending. However, Airtel did not divulge the names of apps or companies which have signed up for Airtel Zero. 
 
While discussing with the financial daily, some experts pointed out TRAI’s lack of guidelines on this kind of collaborations. While Airtel has planned this in a major scale, this is nothing new in the Indian telecom scene. 
 In February, <keyword id="46907" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reliance-communications">Reliance Communications</keyword> tied up with Facebook to launch internet.org in India, which provided access to 33 websites free of charge. In another instance, Uninor offered free usage of WhatsApp for Rs 1 a day and Rs 0.5 per hour for Facebook last year, and followed up with free Wikipedia for three months beginning April 1. This was another way of offering zero-rating plans, promoting unbridled access to the Internet, a senior executive had told the ET. 
 
A few days back, TRAI had floated a consultation paper on net neutrality, which implies that telcos cannot block certain apps or websites and promote a few. 
 
(Image: India Times)

Airtel is violating net neutrality and no one is liking it!

Joining the internet giants who are all shouting out loud for <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword>, telecom major <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> too cleared its stand on the issue. <keyword id="958297" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sunil-Sood">Sunil Sood</keyword>, managing director of Vodafone India clarified the internet giants. 
 In a recent press conference in Delhi, Sood said that the company did not believe in ‘carving’ or ‘blocking’ the Internet. "We're completely for net neutrality. We've seen 148% growth in data usage, thanks to <keyword id="1245953" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="OTT">OTT</keyword> (Over-the-top) players. However, we're also pro net equality. If there's a service similar to ours, the rate should be the same", he said. ‘Similar service’ seemingly refers to OTT VoIP Apps such as Skype, Whatsapp, Viber and Hike among others. 
 
One can't help but ponder over how much OTT voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) call services agitate Indian telcos. There's no doubt that OTT VoIPs like WhatsApp, Skype, Line or Viber allow users to make free calls and have been biting into Telco revenues for quite a while. According to telecom advisory firm Ovum, telecom companies across the world will lose around $386 billion between 2012 and 2018 due to OTT VoIPs. 
 
Most Indian telcos feel they can't earn back what they invest on infrastructure as app makers cash in by just sending data over these networks. Telecom companies make money only out of data usage, not on bandwidth, which is getting cheaper anyway. 
 <keyword id="2796594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="airtel-zero">Airtel Zero</keyword>’s launch in April sparked the debate on net neutrality in India. The plan offered free internet access to some websites, while others were payable. Sood clarified Vodafone won’t follow suit. He dismissed <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>’s zero plan as a “trivial price plan”, which has been deviced as incentive to promote data services in the country. The company is currently waiting for the government's stand on the issue. 
 
Vodafone India currently has around 63.8 million data users, 19.4 million on 3G.

Vodafone is all for net neutrality, calls Airtel Zero as
trivial price plan

In what could be called a big step for net neutrality, telecom regulator <keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">TRAI</keyword> has clarified that none of the zero-rated products such as <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>’s <keyword id="3073276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Free-Basics">Free Basics</keyword> and <keyword id="2796594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="airtel-zero">Airtel Zero</keyword> will be allowed in the country. The telecom watchdog has barred differential pricing of data products. 
	 
	“No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on basis of content," said TRAI in a statement. 
	 
	The regulator has barred the service providers from entering into agreement that will have discriminatory effect on data services tariffs. The bar will result in disallowing subsidized data packages that offers only a select services such as Whatsapp, Twitter. 
	 
	"Only exemption - tariffs may be reduced for accessing emergency services or at times of public emergency," added TRAI. The industry monitor has also stated that service providers will have to pay a penalty of Rs 50,000 a day if any violations are done. 
	 
	 
	Image Credit: Indiatimes.com

Net Neutrality: Telecom watchdog TRAI bars Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero

Learning from others’ mistakes, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> has deferred all plans to provide free data to end users in India by zero rating certain apps. The search giant is not ready to take any risk and afraid of public backlash that came up against a similar move by <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> and Airtel. 
 

	Google has been discussing with telecom operators and applications developers to launch a zero rating platform in the county. But it has now decided not move further in this direction. "Google has shelved the idea of any kind of zero-rating tie-up because it was very scared of the backlash which came up against (Facebook's) Internet.org in India," two people familiar with the development told the Economic Times. 
	 

	Regarding the zero rating plans, a Google spokesperson said, "We don't comment on rumours or speculation." 
	 

	What it is Zero rating? Zero rating — or, the practice of letting users access select applications free of data charges by striking deals with telecom operators — has been hugely debated in India. 
 While some people argue zero rating initiatives will help bring first time users online with free data, a majority of people feel that it's against the principles of <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword> as it will give priority to certain apps and services, and small players will get sidelined. Social networking giant Facebook and the country's largest telecom operator <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> were recently criticized for their zero rating initiatives Internet.org and Airtel Zero, respectively. Online retailer <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and some other Internet companies have walked out of discussions to be part of the Airtel Zero initiative while many partners pulled out of Internet.org as well. "Saying that having some internet access is better than having no access is like saying slavery is better than <keyword id="6358907" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="unemployment">unemployment</keyword>," said Mishi Choudhary, legal director at the <keyword id="2730794" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Software-Freedom-Law-Center">Software Freedom Law Center</keyword>, which provides free legal services to not-for-profit developers of free and open source software. "We want an open internet where Indians are not just consumers but creators.... We want to create and reach everyone, whether we are a big <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> business or a small one," she said. 
	 

	Sources said Google wanted to act as an intermediary between the app developers and internet carriers. It wanted to create a marketplace where telecom operators could put up their zero rating plans and app developers could purchase them to zero-rate the mobile data used by their apps and gain access to a wider customer base. 
	 

	"Google wanted to have a metering system at the telecom service providers' end and that was an issue as well," said sources cited above. Earlier reports suggested Google was looking to launch the initiative at its annual developer conference on May 28. Meanwhile, the Indian government is expected to come out with a set of guidelines on regulating over-the-top players like WhatsApp or <keyword id="6377887" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Skype">Skype</keyword>, following a consultation process it kick started earlier this year. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Google puts zero rating plans on hold in India, wants to wait and watch

At a time when country’s free Internet is under attack and the telecom operators are willing to implement new strategies to earn more profit, political parties have come together in support of <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">Net Neutrality</keyword> in India. Net Neutrality or democratic internet plans for all under the sun has made possible the impossible. There has been only one instance when political parties had joined together to protest – that was almost 70 years before in India’s freedom struggle against the British rule. 
 A news report by The Economic Times said, political parties have joined the pitch for Internet freedom. "<keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> completely supports net neutrality, Internet freedom must not be compromised," said Congress leader Ajay Maken. 
 
"If ISPs control where you should shop from, then consumers will be powerless," Maken slammed. 
 The government has also backed an open Internet. Telecom Minister <keyword id="8748" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ravi-Shankar">Ravi Shankar</keyword> Prasad has said the common man should be able to access it without discrimination and declared that the final decision on the controversial net neutrality issue will be taken by the telecom department and not the regulator. 
A six-member panel set up by telecom department will submit its recommendations next month, following which a final view will be taken on Net Neutrality, the principle that guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on the Internet. 
 Meanwhile, after the significant backlash that it faced, online retailer Flipkart on Tuesday withdrew from the controversial <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> Zero plan. "We think equal access to Internet is important for healthy growth of internet services in India. We have realised that Airtel Zero could go against net neutrality," Flipkart said. 
 
"We will be internally discussing details of actions over the next few days. We have a deeper understanding of the implications of zero rating," Flipkart said on social media. "We are committed to the larger cause of Net Neutrality," Flipkart said in a statement. 
 
On its part Airtel, who pioneered the move with introduction of Airtel Zero said that it believes in the concept of Net Neutrality. "We have always supported net neutrality. The Internet is open and we believe it should be non-discriminatory. It should be transparent and open and completely support net neutrality as a concept," Gopal Vittal, CEO of Airtel India told the ET. 
 
Asked whether Airtel is planning to withdraw the product, Vittal said, "We stand committed to the product. We are disappointed by the kind of criticism on the product. This cannot be a conversation on rich versus the poor. 
 
(Image: India Times)

Is Net Neutrality Movement India’s new struggle for freedom? Flipkart vows for net neutrality

Many instances in the past have proved that young India loves to raise the red flag. And when it’s about an issue, which is severely harmful for the interest of many, it’s obvious that people will come forward. With Indian Internet users voicing their support for net neutrality in the country, the telecom regulator has received more than 1.5 lakh emails over the weekend . 
 
In the last few hours, at nearly 10 emails a minute, the pace of such emails have touched record speed flooding the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's inbox. 
 "This is completely unprecedented. We thought we'll get about 15,000 emails in 10 days," Kiran Jonnalagadda, one of people behind the campaign told the ET. Earlier, the telecom regulator had sought views from the public on regulating 'over the top' service providers like <keyword id="790242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="WhatsApp">Whatsapp</keyword> and <keyword id="6377887" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Skype">Skype</keyword>. 
 
The e-mail campaign to protect net neutrality began on Saturday around 3 pm through Savetheinternet.in website. A video created by popular standup comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) also pushed many users to sign up for the campaign. 
 
The video was shared thousands of times within a short period on Facebook. Because of the unusually high number of shares, the social network mistook it for spam and took it off people's timelines. It was soon restored after many users complained. 
 
 
Net neutrality, or the notion that Internet service providers must treat all traffic as equal, became a topic of heated discussion after TRAI floated a consultation paper on "Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top (OTT) Services" seeking comments from stakeholders. 
 Last week, telecom provider <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> launched Airtel Zero, a scheme through which companies can pay Airtel and have users browse their service free of data charges. The practice of allowing apps to be free of data charges to the consumer is called ‘zero rating’ in telecom parlance. 
 
By paying to be on Airtel Zero, companies can make sure that their users get free access to their service, while smaller players are at a disadvantage. Airtel has said that zero rating does not violate net neutrality as it lowers the cost of access and it is "non-discriminatory". 
 Many startups are staunchly opposed to breaking net neutrality. "It creates a class system all over again, this time, for people with money," Sai Srinivas Kiran, <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> of Tewee, a hardware startup for video streaming told the financial daily. 
 Many politicians like Tathagata Satpathy, Derek O'Brien and <keyword id="205969" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rajeev-Chandrasekhar">Rajeev Chandrasekhar</keyword> have also taken up the issue. In December 2014, Airtel had also tried to introduce a plan to charge Internet telephony companies like Skype and Whatsapp a higher tariff. However, the telecom operator withdrew the plan after public outrage.

​It's 1.5 lakh net neutralists vs Airtel,  Vodafone, Idea

New Delhi, Jan 29 () Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it is working to get the company's name removed from 'Denied Entry List', but added that DGFT's latest action does not limit its ability to undertake future imports or exports.
 The comment by the telecom operator came after the Commerce Ministry put Bharti Airtel in denied entry list (DEL) for non-fulfilment of export obligation under an export promotion scheme. 
 The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which is under the Commerce Ministry, has put the company under the list, commonly known as blacklist, for non-fulfilment of export obligation in respect of certain EPCG authorisation issued to it.
 In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Airtel said, "The company is working towards an expeditious closure of this matter with the office of the DGFT and for getting the company's name removed from the DEL".
 "It must also be noted that the said action does not limit the ability of the company to undertake future imports or exports," Airtel added.
 Bharti Airtel said it has not applied for any such license since April 2018 as there was no operational need for the same.
 "The company has fulfilled all its export obligations under the past licenses and has applied for closure of these licenses along with necessary documents to the authorities in this regard," it added.
 Under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG), an export promotion scheme, import of capital goods is allowed at zero customs duty. Capital goods imported at zero duty must fulfil EPCG export obligation equivalent to six times of duty saved, as per the scheme. MBI RVK

Bharti Airtel working with DGFT for removal of name from blacklist

<keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">Net Neutrality</keyword> debate has been on for few months now. Though not firm action or decisions have been taken so far in this regard, but people were waiting to hear from the DoT panel what the future of Internet would be like in India. And guess what the panel has just proposed? 
 According to a PTI report, the panel has asked the government to “Regulate domestic calls made using Internet-based calling applications such as <keyword id="6377887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Skype">Skype</keyword>, WhatsApp and Viber at par with phone call services offered by telecom operators.” 
 The panel’s openly shared its disapproval for projects like <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>'s Internet.org, which allow access to certain websites without mobile data charges and said that such apps should be disallowed. 
 The panel further told PTI, "In the case of Over-The-Top (<keyword id="1245953" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="OTT">OTT</keyword>) VoIP international calling services, a liberal approach may be adopted. However, in the case of domestic calls (local and national), communication services by TSPs (telecom service providers) and OTT communication services may be treated similarly from a regulatory angle for the present.” 
 The Committee is chaired by <keyword id="2953221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="DoT-Advisor-for-Technology">DoT Advisor for Technology</keyword> A K Bhargava and members in the panel include A K Mittal, V Umashankar, <keyword id="219238" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shashi-Ranjan-Kumar">Shashi Ranjan Kumar</keyword>, G Narendra Nath and R M Agarwal. 
 
The neutrality debate took the entire country by storm when telecom operator Airtel launched a platform, Airtel Zero, that allow free access of some websites on its network. However, the companies were asked to pay Airtel for joining the platform. 
 
PTI report further shares how the panel discussed Facebook's Internet.org and said that until April 2015, Internet.org users could have free access for only a few websites, and Facebook's role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were on that list was seen as violating Net neutrality. 
 
Below is a summarized view of DoT panel proposal: 
1. "Collaborations between telecom operators and content providers that enable such gate-keeping role to be played by any entity should be actively discouraged". However, the panel approved ‘zero rating platform’ after telecom operators compared it with a toll-free number. 
2. Proposes "ex-ante determination" and "ex-post regulation" model for dealing with tariff plan, including zero rating. 
3. Recommended that OTT players should be brought under regulation to comply with national security norms like telecom operators in the country do.

Dot Panel remains against Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org; says apps such as these should be disallowed

New Delhi, Jan 28 () The commerce ministry has put Bharti Airtel in denied entry list for non-fulfilment of export obligation under an export promotion scheme, sources said.
 The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which is under the ministry, has put the company under this list which is commonly known as back list for non-fulfilment of export obligation in respect of certain EPCG authorisation issued to them, they said.
 Airtel sources said, "Airtel has not taken any such licence since April 2018, as there is no operational requirement. In fact, the company has already applied for the closure of all past licences that were due and is awaiting approval from the authorities."
 An e-mail send to the company did not elicit any immediate response.
 Due to this, the company will not be able to avail any export benefit or licence from the DGFT. 
 The Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) is an export promotion scheme. Under this, import of capital goods are allowed at zero customs duty for manufacturing quality goods and services.
 Under the scheme, capital goods imported at zero duty must fulfil EPCG export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duty saved on the capital goods. RR MBI HRS

Commerce ministry puts Bharti Airtel in denied entry list

New Delhi, Mar 30 () Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday announced an extension in the validity period of more than 8 crore pre-paid connections until April 17 as well as credited talk time of Rs 10 in these accounts."Airtel has extended the pre-paid pack validity for over 80 million customers till April 17, 2020. All these customers will continue to get incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted," Airtel said in a statement.     The benefits will be available to users in the next 48 hours, it said.    "Airtel will also credit an additional Rs 10 of talk time in the pre-paid accounts of all these 80 million customers to enable them to make calls or send SMS and therefore stay connected with their loved ones," the statement said.    State-owned telecom operators BSNL and MTNL have also extended validity period of their prepaid mobile services till April 20 and offer Rs 10 additional talktime even after zero balance, to enable users, especially poor and underprivileged, to stay connected during the 21-day nationwide lockdown.    An Airtel official said that the company will not recover Rs 10 credit given to all the pre-paid customers.     "In this difficult hour of fighting off the threat of covid-19, Airtel is committed to ensuring that all people remain connected without any disruptions. And for this objective, it is critical to take care of the under-privileged daily wage earners of our country, whose lives have been disrupted due to the lock-down," Shashwat Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel said.  PRS  PRS MRMR

Airtel extends pre-paid validity till Apr 17, credits Rs 10 talk time

The <keyword id="62528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Department-of-Telecom">Department of Telecom</keyword>’s report on '<keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">Net Neutrality</keyword>' has advised the government not to allow the controversial zero rating plans of the telecom companies while proposing that throttling and any sort of prioritization of Internet traffic should be banned. 

	A senior government official privy to the report told ET: "There should be no paid prioritization which creates discrimination and no degradation of traffic on the internet on the basis of applications, content, services or even the end user." 
 

	The six-member committee's report along with the telecom regulator's recommendations will form the final basis of the government's policy on net neutrality, a principle that guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on Internet, with no discrimination on the basis of tariffs or speed. 
 

	It was reported in May that the six-member government committee concurred that zero-rating plans which involve commercial arrangements at the back-end violate the idea of net neutrality. 
 

	The official added that the government could make an exemption for delivery of essential government services such as education and health which might be delivered on priority. 
 

	The report has further indicated that the policy on Net Neutrality must promote competition and encourage startup culture in the country, another official told the financial daily. 
 

	It has also stated that ISPs, including telecom operators, should be disallowed from using 'traffic management' as a technique to slow down certain content. 
 The <keyword id="161280" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="DoT-committee">DoT committee</keyword> was set up in January 2015. The committee members met more than 45 organisations including Facebook, Google, Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm, Viber and <keyword id="6377887" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Skype">Skype</keyword> and telecom service providers as well as various public interest groups before submitting its report. The report comes even as the <keyword id="30356" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Telecom-Regulatory-Authority-of-India">Telecom Regulatory Authority of India</keyword>, after finishing a consultation process, is preparing its own report. The consultation, and launch of <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword>'s <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> Zero plan — under which certain apps can be accessed by users free of charge, with the app makers paying telco for users' access — caused a furore, especially on social media. 

	According to the first official, the report has suggested that any policy on Net Neutrality should ensure interconnection between ISPs, cellular providers and app makers as needed and as per rules, and the government should intervene only when needed. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Net Neutrality: DoT not in the favour of telcos’ zero rating plans

The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=World+Bank">World Bank</a> has spoken up about companies including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook+">Facebook </a>who provide restricted access to the Internet. 
 
"Care should be taken to ensure that users have the greatest possible access to internet-based content, applications and services of their choice," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=World+Bank">World Bank</a> said. 
 
"But traffic management measures, while legitimate, should not reduce the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly freedom of expression," the report said. 
 
The 350 page report called 'World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends’ touches upon the need to build out and continuously improve networks and network capacity. 
 "The recent trend to develop services in which some basic content can be accessed free of data charges (such as <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>'s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Free+Basics">Free Basics</a> or <keyword id="1826931" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Internet-org">Internet.org</keyword>), while other content is subject to data charges, would appear to be the antithesis of <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">net neutrality</keyword> and a distortion of markets," it said. 
 
"Nevertheless, some defend the practice as a means of extending internet use in low-income countries. In India, following protests, some participating organisations withdrew support to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Airtel+Zero">Airtel Zero</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Internet.org">Internet.org</a>, as the regulator indicated that these platforms do not provide equal treatment to all online services," the report said. 
 
An open and free internet is a key contributing factor to innovation in the digital economy, making it critical to protect this openness, it added. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

You Searched For "airtel zero" and got 13 results

Accessing apps may soon be free but not fair. Here’s why.

BI India Bureau

Airtel is violating net neutrality and no one is liking it!

BI India Bureau

Vodafone is all for net neutrality, calls Airtel Zero as trivial price plan

Saikat Pyne

Net Neutrality: Telecom watchdog TRAI bars Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero

BI India Bureau

Google puts zero rating plans on hold in India, wants to wait and watch

BI India Bureau

Is Net Neutrality Movement India’s new struggle for freedom? Flipkart vows for net neutrality

BI India Bureau

It's 1.5 lakh net neutralists vs Airtel, Vodafone, Idea

BI India Bureau

Bharti Airtel working with DGFT for removal of name from blacklist

PTI

Dot Panel remains against Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org; says apps such as these should be disallowed

BI India Bureau

Commerce ministry puts Bharti Airtel in denied entry list

PTI

Airtel extends pre-paid validity till Apr 17, credits Rs 10 talk time

PTI

Net Neutrality: DoT not in the favour of telcos’ zero rating plans

BI India Bureau

Even World Bank is worried about Facebook's Free Basics

BI India Bureau

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You Searched For "airtel zero" and got 13 results

Accessing apps may soon be free but not fair. Here’s why.

BI India Bureau

Airtel is violating net neutrality and no one is liking it!

BI India Bureau

Vodafone is all for net neutrality, calls Airtel Zero as trivial price plan

Saikat Pyne

Net Neutrality: Telecom watchdog TRAI bars Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero

BI India Bureau

Google puts zero rating plans on hold in India, wants to wait and watch

BI India Bureau

Is Net Neutrality Movement India’s new struggle for freedom? Flipkart vows for net neutrality

BI India Bureau

​It's 1.5 lakh net neutralists vs Airtel, Vodafone, Idea

BI India Bureau

Bharti Airtel working with DGFT for removal of name from blacklist

PTI

Dot Panel remains against Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org; says apps such as these should be disallowed

BI India Bureau

Commerce ministry puts Bharti Airtel in denied entry list

PTI

Airtel extends pre-paid validity till Apr 17, credits Rs 10 talk time

PTI

Net Neutrality: DoT not in the favour of telcos’ zero rating plans

BI India Bureau

Even World Bank is worried about Facebook's Free Basics

BI India Bureau

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It's 1.5 lakh net neutralists vs Airtel, Vodafone, Idea