MUMBAI: The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has welcomed the DoT Committee recommendations on Net Neutrality and agrees with the report that the primary goal of public policy should be directed towards facilitating affordable and universal connectivity.
This actually is in line with IAMAI’s submission on Net Neutrality to the DoT.
IAMAI has always advocated a principle that guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on internet, with no discrimination on the basis of tariffs or speed, and is happy that the DoT paper also conforms to the view of IAMAI.
The industry body has also welcomed the DoT recommendation that OTT services should be actively encouraged and any impediments in expansion and growth of OTT application services should be removed. This is also in line with the suggestions put forward by IAMAI that bringing in more regulation would be counterproductive to innovation and investments in this sector.
According to IAMAI, Zero rating and other pro-access programs have the potential to dramatically expand internet access in India and bring more people online, but the report fails to fully recognize the value and potential of such programs. Not all Zero Ratings are violating the Net Neutrality principles and especially in countries like India where the Internet penetration is very low, such services can actually help in faster proliferation of broadband. So, the Net Neutrality laws should keep the plan of zero-rated services open and implement along the lines that is not anti-competitive and in lines with the principles of Net Neutrality.
In light of the observations made in the DoT Committee Report on Net Neutrality, IAMAI states that there are already enough regulations on the Internet Telephony in India [Calls from Skype to mobile numbers and land line consume reasonably less, but this is not yet permitted in India] and there is no need to further bring a licensing or revenue share arrangement between the OTTs and TSPs. This will disrupt VOIP and will also skew any further innovation in the same field, which is need of the hour.
