MUMBAI: Net neutrality activists and the Indian netizen’s valiant effort marked its first goal as after e-commerce giant Filpkart backed out from its deal with Airtel for Airtel Zero, the telecom tycoon has now issued an explanation on various controversies.

Airtel, in its statement, said that it fully supports the concept of net neutrality. “There have been some misconceptions about our toll free data platform – Airtel Zero. It is a not a tariff proposition but is an open marketing platform that:

* Allows any application or content provider to offer their service on a toll free basis to their customers who are on our network.

* Such customers whether on a data pack or not will therefore be able to access these toll free services free of charge.

* No site whether on the toll free platform or not under any circumstances is blocked, throttled or provided any form of preferential access.

* The toll free platform is open to all content providers on a completely non discriminatory basis and operates on the same principle as 1-800 toll free voice services.”

Airtel further said, “The statement made by Flipkart regarding its decision to not offer toll free data service to its customers is consistent with our stand that Airtel Zero is not a tariff proposition. It is merely an open platform for content providers to provide toll free data services. The platform remains open to all companies who want to offer these toll free data services to their customers on a completely non discriminatory basis.”

As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Flipkart issued a statement saying that the company has always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality. While it backed off from Airtel Zero, the company also said that it was committed to the larger cause of net neutrality in India.