Govt to use BSNL muscle to push internet services

DoT chalking out strategy to narrow digital divide

The department of telecommunications (DoT) is chalking out a strategy to promote internet services, especially in small towns and areas, through state-run BSNL to bridge the digital divide. This will be in line with government’s vision of Digital India. “Now, we are planning to rope in BSNL for spreading and creating internet awareness. BSNL already offers services, mainly voice, at a subsidised rate in small and remote areas, which will now be extended to internet services,” a senior official from DoT said.

Internet services would cover access to the net via mobile phones as well as through broadband — wireline — connections.The plan could be to offer free internet services free for first two months or free internet usage during night, though with a specified data limit to get people onto internet boat. “The proposals are in preliminary stages, it will take few months to finalise the whole architecture.”  The official said a meeting on this issue would take place soon and the minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, would decide. The government was reportedly keen on reducing the digital divide between the various sections of society.

BSNL is setting up Wi-Fi hotspots in partnerships with other players. These would give users free access to the internet for the first 30 minutes, after which they would have to buy vouchers. The plan was to set up 2,500 such Wi-Fi hotspots.

Some officials in the ministry were for plans such as Free Basics to connect people to the net on a massive scale. But the argument that plans such as Free Basics violated net neutrality principles shifted the focus on BSNL. On Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had barred all forms of differential pricing of data services, except in emergency situations, giving a big blow to Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero. Trai had upheld the principles of net neutrality.  Free Basics allow mobile users to access certain websites without incurring any data charges.

It was launched in India in partnership with Reliance Communications but Trai had asked Rcom to suspend the operations till its approval late last year.

With the Trai order, many telecom firms would have to rework their data plans, experts said.

Bharti Airtel, for instance, which has a music streaming app called Wynk, offered the basic version with a subscription fee of Rs 99-Rs 120 a month to its 3G and 4G users and even gave its subscribers free downloads of songs without data charges. Such schemes would have to either reworked or stopped. Trai had said the existing schemes of mobile service providers can at the most run for six months.

“Nothing contained in these regulations shall affect any packs, plans or vouchers with unexpired validity subscribed by a consumer before the date of commencement of these regulations, provided that no such pack, plan or voucher shall be valid beyond a period of six months from the date of commencement of these regulations,” Trai had said.