I am Manek D’Silva, a web-developer and designer by profession. The internet was founded on principles of net-neutrality as outlined in points 5.1-5.16 of the Consultation paper released 27/03/15. Differentiated QoS, based on payment, is equal to discrimination. It is NOT predictable what type of content is essential to a consumer at any point in time: it might be a video, it might be search, it might be e-commerce, it might be medical services, the consumer has full control over their source of information, and this is EXACTLY what makes the internet useful at all. Predictability.

Speed of service is definitely an issue, but at least with NN, it is predictable and fair. When designing websites, a huge effort is put in to ensure that websites load quickly, and predictably. Knowing for example, that a 512KB website will load in approximately 1-2 seconds on a clear 8Mbps connection is central to development of websites and content on the internet (already affected by ping, server location, and handshake). Non-neutral approaches to the internet insert another layer of unpredictability into the equation and is BAD for web developers & designers, it will undoubtedly degrade the quality of websites on the internet for one section of users or another.

For Point 5.48, regarding Apple or Google’s control on the experience of the internet for users. There is a strict and transparent guidelines in place that clearly do NOT affect the performance of sites. Apple for example, does not (and cannot) discriminate between one flight-booking app and another. ANYONE who makes a flight-booking app that clear the guidelines of the App Store, is treated equally. The search results in the Apple AppStore are ordered based on popularity and relevance of search terms, there is currently NO method of paying for a higher search placement. And this is the way it must remain.

If there is a pressing issue of insufficient bandwidth across the country, then definitely solutions must be proposed and debated. Already most ISPs impose fair-usage policies on their consumers, which means there is ALREADY a system in place ensuring that few consumers do not clog the bandwidth and jeopardise the experience of others. But ANY solution that charges the end-user differently for accessing third-party content, is absolutely unethical, and no business of the ISP. This is the basis for net-neutrality, and this is the basis of the internet.

Regards,

Manek D’Silva

+91-9886056000

manekdsilva@gmail.com