Trai open house on net neutrality in Bengaluru

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will on July 25 hold an open house discussion on net neutrality in Bengaluru.

The regulator plans to hold such discussions at multiple locations due to public interest in the issue and also to collect divergent views. It conducted a similar open house discussion in Mumbai in May.

Net neutrality denies priority to any entity in Internet traffic on account of payments to service providers like telecom companies.

Trai had in January issued a consultation paper on net neutrality and had asked stakeholders to submit their comments. In its preconsultation paper issued last May, Trai had discussed the definition of net neutrality, unrestricted access and transparency, customer privacy, and national security.

After the open house discussions, Trai will issue its recommendations on the matter.

Net neutrality became a hotly contested issue a few years ago after Bharti Airtel decided to charge separately for Internet-based calls but withdrew the proposal after people protested. Later, Airtel launched Airtel Zero, which provided free access to certain websites. Facebook also launched its internet.org platform, renamed Free Basics. Trai banned the platforms as part of its ruling on differential pricing.

The Department of Telecommunications had also submitted a report on net neutrality in 2015, but has not moved on framing rules. The Centre had said it would decide on the framework on net neutrality after receiving Trai’s recommendations.