In the United States, major ISPs had sought to create fast lanes for services, provided they paid more for it than they previously did. This would mean that the services that couldn't afford that extra price would be pushed down to the slower lane. This kind of bias or paid-prioritization is a gross violation of an essential principle that is known as net neutrality. Net neutrality is the principle that dictates all traffic to be treated indiscriminately by the ISPs. No matter what the source or destination of the traffic is, it should be treated equally. This is what makes the internet an amazing tool. Thankfully, not too long ago, the FCC in the USA ruled against paid-prioritization and defended net neutrality. This was a major victory for internet users all around the globe. 

Now we have something similar in our own nation. Earlier this year, Airtel had sought to do something similar. Here's a quote from their terms and condition page:

This had received nation-wide criticism and the TRAI had, thankfully, ruled against it. This was another major victory for the internet. My faith in the TRAI was intact. 

We now find ourselves in a similar situation at the moment. By attempting to regulate services like Skype, Viber, Google Talk and WhatsApp, we would be disrespecting the very foundation of the internet. The way the internet is currently structured allows for an unbiased treatment. If we allow for this new regulation, ISPs would be charging users based on how much data is being used in what service. For example, if some user uses a lot of their data for WhatsApp, they could hike the prices for WhatsApp on a per-message basis which would result in a ridiculously unfair price for the user to pay the telecommunication companies. 

I understand that telecoms are not making enough revenue due to how things are currently. However, making this move is an absolutel hurdle in terms of progress. I'm not talking about regress in any particular service like WhatsApp or Viber. I'm talking about regress on the internet as a whole. India is a major consumer of the internet. It's important for us to guard the internet against such violations. Recently, the Netherlands and Chile had reacted to threats against net neutrality by establishing a law against violations of net neutrality. Instead of following their lead of progress, we might end up creating a greater disparity. This is strongly anti-development. Strongly anti-progress. 

Having said all of that, I have faith in the TRAI to do what the Indian public needs and expects you to do. During the Airtel situation, you hadn't let us down. And for that, we're very proud and grateful. I'm completely certain this faith will not be tested.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for giving the people of India the opportunity to voice their opinion. I'm sure the decision will be favourable. 

Yours in good faith, 

Jerry E.