The telecom regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is set to issue a consultation paper on regulating the over-the-top players (OTT) by third week of January, 2015. The telecom regulator is of the view that currently there is no law or framework governing the concept of net neutrality in India and thus there is a need to address this issue.
At present, the pricing on the internet is based on validity and the volume of data. The regulator is examining if the current data packs based on these parameters limits the users access to mobile internet. The exercise would also set the scope of regulation of OTT operations in the country.
A few days ago, India’s leading telecom service provider, Airtel has decided to not go ahead its newly proposed tariffs voice over Internet protocol calls. This tariff structure breaches the concept of net neutrality. Airtel had earlier decided to charge VoIP calls on pay as you go basis, at standard data rates of 4 paise per 10 KB on 3G network and 10 paise per 10 KB on 2G network. Besides, it had also announced special VoIP packs.
The move to charge a higher rate for VoIP calls had received a lot of flak in the social media.
