Telecom regulator TRAI has issued a consultation paper on differential pricing for data services, asking if telecom operators should be allowed to have different pricing for accessing different websites, applications and platforms.
This has come amid a debate on net neutrality and zero rating plans. Also, this is in addition to the earlier consultation paper on net neutrality, on which it is yet to give recommendations.
"Till now, the regulatory guidelines on discrimination and transparency in tariff offers were more focused to address the concerns in voice telephony. The growth of data usage and the manner in which data schemes are being designed by service providers calls for a reIook at the regulatory principles of non-discriminatory tariff and transparency measures in the context of data tariff offers," TRAI said in a statement today.
TRAI said some service providers are offering differential data tariff with flee or discounted tariffs to certain contents of certain websites/applications/platforms.
Differential tariffs results in ciassification of subscribers based on the content they want to access (those who want to access non-participating content will be charged at a higher rate than those who want to access participating content). "This may potentiaiiy go against the principle of non-discriminatory tariff. The potential benefits and disadvantages of such practices have to be weighed in order to determine the regulatory approach," TRAI said.
In the consultation paper issued today, the regulator has asked if differential pricing for data usage is permitted, what measures should be taken to ensure non-discrimination and affordable internet access amongst others are addressed.
TRAI through its paper has also asked stakeholders to specify about alternative methods or technologies/business models, other than differentiated tariff plans available to achieve the objective of providing free internet access to the consumers.
The paper shows that TRAI will look into the zero rating plans offered by the telecom players. Though, Bharti Airtel had withdrawn its Airtel Zero platform, which would have given users free access to certain websites. Airtel Zero created a furore as many said it was against the principle of net neutrality. Though, Airtel defended Airtel Zero saying it was just a marketing platform.Under Airtel Zero, companies, including start-ups, could offer applications for free and the app maker will pay for the customer's free usage to the operator.
Similarly, Facebook's Internet.org allows access to certain websites without mobile data charges
Net neutrality means all internet-based sites or services should be treated equally, with no discrimination in terms of speed and cost of access.
The comments are invited till December 31.
According to TRAI, there were about 300 million wireless Internet subscribers in the country as on June this year. Out of this subscriber base, about 207 million subscribers use 2G (GPRS, EDGE and CDMA-1X) networks to access Internet, about 92 million subscribers use 3G (HSPA, WCDMA, EVDO ) and rest are 4G LTE subscribers. The average data usage per data user for 2G service is about 200 MB per month and average data usage per data user for 3G is about 800 MB per month.
TRAI floats paper to look into differential pricing in data services by telcos | Business Standard Mobile Website
