Dear Sir/Mam,

Following are my arguments for having net-neutrality in the telecom sector wrt. the “Consultation Paper On Regulatory Framework for Over the top (OTT) services” dated 27/03/2015.

1.       We don’t charge differently for using electricity for an oven or for light. What logic does it make to do the same for Mobile data ?

2.       Competition from other sources of businesses are part of taking a business risk. Did the telecom operators reimburse the STD/PCO booth owners when they were wiped out of business due to telecos ?

3.       Why does the telco need to know about what and how I consume the data ?

4.       The TSPs are not providing any other service that the carriers are offering. What claim do they have over the revenues generated by these applications other than data charges ?

5.       The need for faster internet has added to the revenues of TSPs and not just infrastructure costs.

6.       There needs to be NO control, right and no responsibilities for the content. The same can be covered under current laws.

7.       Charging per OTT application effectively violates the Competition Laws of the country.

8.       The TSPs are free to charge for the data . NOT the usage pattern.

9.       How cloud services came into the picture is beyond any reasonable understanding.

10.   If messaging services are to be licensed, why hasn’t the same been done for E-Mails yet. Why selective bias against messaging  services ?

11.   How would pricing the OTT make communication cheaper ???

12.   Compensation of revenue is not the responsibility of OTTs. The TSPs need to innovate to make sure they remain competitive , not lobby with the government to clamp down OTTs.

I sincerely hope that TRAI takes into account these points before ruling anything.

In a similar case the government of United States of America taken the steps in order to main net-neutrality and has already set the precedent for such issues. I hope the TRAI/GOI takes the notice of the same and goes the right thing.

Himanshu Khemani