Amid a massive public campaign to support net neutrality in India, online retail giant Flipkart has announced that it will not be a part of the new Airtel platform that was attacked for allowing users to access partner apps without any charges for data. Called Airtel Zero, the platform creates discrimination within content, an absolute no-no for the Internet, say supporters of net neutrality which mandates that all data must be treated equally.
Flipkart said in a statement on Tuesday that it will be walking away from "ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero" and "committing ourselves to the larger cause of Net Neutrality in India."
At a press conference Flipkart's Mukesh Bansal said the company has always put the consumer first. "We have always believed in net neutrality. After deliberation we realised that this deal with Airtel could have compromised net neutrality in the future. We will not take part in any deal that can jeopardise internet freedom," he said.
The government has created a committee of six members to review the issue. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the team's report will be presented in the middle of May "on the whole gamut of net neutrality objective, its benefits, advantages and limitations including the regulatory and technical issues."
Airtel has denied this, with Bharti Airtel director for consumer business Srini Gopalan saying, "First and most important point, Airtel Zero is 'free' for all our consumers and open to all marketers. Yes, open to all big or small... Since we announced Airtel Zero on April 6, over 150 startups, with a majority being small startups - have contacted to enquire about the product."
"When telcos have the power to decide which app or website you can shop cheaper on or what services you can access better, the end user will have no freedom of choice," warned the Congress' Ajay Maken, saying his party strongly supports net neutrality.
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