Net neutrality in short

There is this debate raging on and on about net neutrality. For us ignoramus, this sounds like technical mumbo-jumbo and we could not be bothered. But it is important for us to understand what this means as it could have an impact on our ‘net’ life in the future.

So net neutrality is about how all traffic on the Internet must be treated equally by Internet service providers. This means that all data should be treated equal and there should be no discrimination based on content, site or user and this in turn means, there should be no difference in terms of speed and cost of access.

And this has become a big issue after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) put out a 118-page consultation paper asking the public for its opinion on 20 questions and also about net neutrality. Within a day, it received some 4.2 lakh supporters for net neutrality. Naturally, who would not want non-discriminatory net service, where your service is neither blocked nor traffic throttled or given access priority for money?

Then what’s the debate? Telecom companies are crying foul as they feel they would get a raw deal – they are fast losing money to free messaging and voice services, which is why Airtel started charging for even free apps like Skype and Viber. There was an uproar and Airtel abandoned this idea.

In the midst of all this, Airtel launched ‘Zero’, which is a plan wherein some 150 start-ups could join Bharti’s platform, and they would pay Airtel for user access to the internet for free. This ‘zero’ itself was very much against what net neutrality stood. Thus a debate raged.

Now you know at least some bit to understand what this entire hullabaloo is all about. And should you support this - yes!