NEW DELHI: India Inc, barring telecos, hailed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) landmark decision defending network neutrality.
Trai’s regulation, which comes into immediate effect, stipulates that “No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content.”
“Anything on internet cannot be differently priced. All packets must be treated equally. This is the broad point that we have highlighted in regulation,” said R S Sharma, Chairman, Trai here on Monday.
Welcoming the regulation, R Chandrashekhar, president, Nasscom said, “The Trai announcement resounds with the submission made by us and we would like to congratulate Trai for enshrining the principles of net neutrality.” Sanjeev Bhikchandani, chairman, internet council said, “this will help address apprehensions for young start-ups on lack of a level playing field.”
Several proponents of net neutrality took to Twitter commending Trai’s move. Kunal Bahl, co-founder, Snapdeal tweeted, “Great to see TRAI backing #NetNeutrality! Let’s keep the Internet free and independent.”