Idea cellular the third largest Indian telecom operator by subscriber base has launched a dedicated WhatsApp pack for Rs.39 with 30-day validity for its subscribers in Andhra Pradesh circle, but the usage is limited to 200MB.
This comes in as a late move by the operator, considering that operators like Reliance communications, Aircel, Tata Docomo, Uninor and Airtel have been offering content based packs like these since long. Rcom offers the lowest tariff for WhatsApp pack priced at just Rs.16 with true unlimited WhatsApp usage which is less than half of what Idea has priced it at that too with a data cap of 200MB.
As operators keep offering more and more content based internet packs with dedicated usage for certain apps like WhatsApp, facebook, twitter, etc. promoters of Net neutrality continue to question the long term implications this will have on the overall health of the internet which is designed to be an open medium for connecting the world and whether this takes away the level playing field for tech startups and denies them a fertile ground to flourish. The recent launch of internet.org by facebook in partnership with Rcom is another such example of compromise of the principles of net neutrality.
