Dear Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),
We Indian citizens need Net Neutrality because it is vital for the socioeconomic development of the country. We want an open internet in accordance with Freedom of Speech as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Net Neutrality laws have already been enacted in The Netherlands after a similar agitation there. Loss of revenue to Telecom Companies should not be the bar to progress. Rulings in favour of allowing said regulation are anti-development, and not what we expect from the Government. Please find attached the answers to your 20 questions on this subject as given in TRAI consultation paper (http://trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/WhatsNew/Documents/OTT-CP-27032015.pdf). My answers are modeled after the original draft created by Reddit.com India user indian_galileo.
Here is what I mean by Net Neutrality as per the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition and recent ruling (http://www.fcc.gov/openinternet): **An Open Internet means consumers can go where they want, when they want. This principle is often referred to as Net Neutrality. It means innovators can develop products and services without asking for permission. It means consumers will demand more and better broadband as they enjoy new lawful Internet services, applications and content, and broadband providers cannot block, throttle, or create special "fast lanes" for that content. The FCC's Open Internet rules protect and maintain open, uninhibited access to legal online content without broadband Internet access providers being allowed to block, impair, or establish fast/slow lanes to lawful content.**
OTTS (over the top services in broadcasting parlance) or differential bandwidth accessibility and pricing on select web services will only benefit the telecom companies and disadvantage the common people many of whom cannot afford the Internet services now. Existing OTTS licenses, if any, should be revoked immediately. Net Neutrality is absolutely indispensable and not an option that can be left undecided or at the whims of the market. Without Net Neutrality:
1. ISPs can slow down some sites on while giving faster speeds to the companies that pay them more.
2. Central and State Governments will no more need draconian laws to curb free speech. It can just ask the operators to make critical websites costly to access and also clamp down their speeds. Telcos that already have vested interests from the governments will happily oblige.
3. The average Internet speed in India is around 2 Mbps, far behind developed countries like South Korea (18-25 Mbps). Small businesses will immensely suffer due to differential bandwidth and pricing if OTTS is implemented. The telecom companies should bear the cost of their infrastructural setups and not the individual and small and medium business customers.
Sincerely,
Saikat Chakraborty
Address: 80/1 Sultan Alam Road, Kolkata 700033, India
Mobile: 9830036229
Email: saikat_c@hotmail.com
