To,The Honorable Minister,Department of Telecommunications.Subject:
Gross Violation of Net Neutrality and Restrictive BusinessMalpractice
by Airtel India.Dear Sir,It has come to our attention today
that‪#‎Airtel‬has decided to startcharging for VOIP data traffic on
all Subscribed InternetPlans.Quoting it, from their terms and
conditions page:“AllInternet/data packs or plans (through which
customer can availdiscounted rate) shall only be valid for Internet
browsing and willexclude VoIP (Both incoming/ Outgoing).VoIP over data
connectivitywould be charged at standard data rates of 4p / 10 KB (3G
service) and10p / 10 KB (2G service). “This is a gross violation of
the principlesof Net Neutrality. As the Internet is essentially seen
as a utility,promoting such a misstep is only going to further impede
thegovernment’s vision of providing cheap and affordable Internet to
allits citizens.Being providers of utility services, an ISP shouldnot
beableto control or alter the terms of access to such services
accordingto their whims and fantasies. This is going to set a
dangerousprecedent where ISP’s will have the ability to dictate the
terms forall internet companies, unless they are paid first.This is
similar tohow monopolies act, and the government should be more
proactive intrying to discourage such business practices.We would also
like tobring to your notice that failing to prevent such malpractices
willlead to further collusion and cartel-like behavior among the
IndianISPs.We have already seen enough instances of such behavior,
wheresome of these same ISP’s have colluded against the interests of
theconsumer and the exchequer. Therefore, we believe that it is time
thegovernment took notice of this issue.India is a growing economy
with anascent Internet Industry. Failure to prevent the spread of
suchpractices willfurther discourage Internet startups from working
and/orcoming to India, leading to fewer businesses and reduced
employmentsin the future.We ask for your help, in keeping the Internet
open andavailable to all the citizens of India. We sincerely believe
it isthemost powerful medium of communication that humanityhas ever
created,and a failure to act today, might endanger this nascent tool
fromachieving its greatness.
Thank you.-
The Logical Indian
Som Dutt Pareek