Facebook Basics ban an interim measure?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) directive to wireless telecom company Reliance Communication Ltd (RCom) to discontinue its internet service in partnership with social media major Facebook – Free Basics – is being seen as interim step by legal experts, and could be reinstated once a law on net neutrality is in place.

Apar Gupta, a lawyer and volunteer with Savetheinternet, termed it as "interim stop-gap measure" till the time a law is formulated.

"There is a principle of forbearance under which if a public consultation is occurring or if laws are being planned on a specific topic then there is moratorium imposed. Trai's latest move, by which it has asked for Internet.org (Facebook's free service platform) not to be rolled out or not be operational, is only an interim stop-gap measure, at present, given that the government is formulating the law," he said.

This, Gupta said, was being done because when ultimately when the laws are made, then rolling the services back completely would be very tough.

The Anil Ambani-owned telecom firm had already begun promoting Free Basics through aggressive media campaign but is holding back its launch after receiving the telecom regulator's dictate.

Despite several attempts, the RCom's spokesperson was unavailable. "As directed by Trai, the commercial launch of Free Basics has been kept in abeyance, till they consider all details and convey a specific approval," the spokesperson was quoted by news agencies.

Also, Trai had recently issued a consultation paper on zero-rating platforms and invited feedback from various stakeholder asking whether they were discriminatory.

Gupta said he does not see the telecom watchdog's move as its support for neutrality; "I don't have a copy of the letter Trai has send to RCom. So, I cannot say what is it that it is wanting to do".

According to him, Free Basics or Internet.org was a zero-rated service as it prioritises certain websites, which are offered free, on a network against other websites and the larger internet that are accessible as per data usage plans.

"What this results in is splintering of the character of the internet, where the website are chosen by users not as per their utility but as per their data cost. One being free and one is paid. So, it introduces a kind of discrimination and disturbs an even level playing field which exists for competition (today)," said Gupta.

He fears that the model could lead to cross-subsidisation. Generally, those websites that are offered free access pay the telecom operators for being prioritised but Facebook has been maintaining that it has not paid RCom.

"It just defies any kind of rational explanation that how can such a plan operate just for free, but they (Facebook and RCom) have not made their agreement public till now so we do not know for sure. We can just go by their word," he said.