Net neutrality rules should be same for all: Telcos

The industry also invoked affordability and the crying need for better broadband penetration as key considerations while formulating principles of net neutrality

The Cellular Operators Association of India and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India have submitted a joint response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the pre-consultation report on net neutrality.

The two bodies representing the country's leading telecom service providers have appealed to Trai that they be treated at par with other stakeholders. They said the telecom sector should not be at the receiving end of net neutrality rules, while other players such as content companies, over-the-top applications and device companies get a free run. The internet is an ecosystem and, therefore, same rules should apply to all stakeholders including content providers, telecom service providers, device manufacturers and services subscription entities, the industry's representation said.

The industry representation has also invoked affordability and the crying need for better broad band penetration as key considerations while formulating principles of net neutrality. The telecom sector has appealed that ‘same service, same rules’ be applied to all stakeholders while formulating rules on net neutrality. Today, many of the device companies (through updates), content companies and application providers collect a lot of consumer data. While telecom operators are subjected to strict privacy laws, the others are not. The industry has highlighted this in its representation.

The telcos have also urged Trai to consider the factors of ‘affordability’ and ‘proliferation of the data network’. They said: “It is felt that net neutrality regulation that has primacy of ‘affordability’ and ‘proliferation of the data network’ as its core philosophy shall contribute towards fulfilling all the other aims such as connecting the next one billion unconnected citizens to the internet; providing non-discriminatory internet access to every citizen; implement same service same rules for the service providers; assess and mitigate the potential revenue loss to the government owing to non-regulation of the content/application developers offering same services as licensed telecom operators; evaluate the critical security requirements of the country, as well as the data privacy developed outside of a holistic framework of internet governance.”  

Given that data is different from voice and different kinds of data traffic need different prioritisation and cannot be treated as equal, the sector has sought reasonable traffic management practices to be permitted.