New Delhi:
Calls made within India through WhatsApp, Skype, Viber and other Internet-based services should be regulated just like "traditional" phone calls, a government report has said. However, messaging and international calling through WhatsApp and Skype do not need regulation, according to the report that is meant to help determine the government's policy on net neutrality.
Telecom operators say they are losing voice and text revenue to Internet applications that allow users to communicate at much cheaper costs. For a one-minute phone call, a customer is charged around 50 paise, but a call made using the Internet costs 4 paisa, according to telecom regulator TRAI.
Net neutrality is a principle that says Internet service providers should treat all traffic on their networks equally, and cannot block or slow down access to any website or content.
The new report, prepared by the Department of Telecom (DoT), says net neutrality must be protected and that "content and application providers cannot be permitted to act as gatekeepers"; the document is critical of Facebook's internet.org. But critics say in parts, the language of the report appears to suggest that controversial plans like Airtel Zero should be allowed if clearances are taken from telecom regulator TRAI.
Net neutrality became a national debate in April after leading telecom carrier Bharti Airtel announced a product, Airtel Zero. Companies that signed up paid Airtel a fee, but users would not pay data charges for surfing that content.
Facebook launched internet.org in india in February in partnership with telecom carrier Reliance Communications. Internet.org's app offers free access to more than 30 pared-down web services, including job listings, healthcare and education sites, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services. Companies like NDTV pulled out of internet.org, concluding that it violates net neutrality.
Starting today and for upto a month, you can send feedback on the new report through the discussion forum under
MyGov.