Choice of content should be left to the consumer: Trai Chairman RS Sharma

A free Internet will be the backbone for innovation in a market like India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai) chairman RS Sharma said. While an open Internet is a must, telcos should also have the freedom to exercise some tools to manage traffic for preserving quality of services or security of the networks, he said, while speaking to reporters on the regulator’s recommendations on net neutrality. Edited excerpts:

What was the thinking of Trai while framing the recommendations?
No one owns Internet, so everyone owns it. So, one overarching thought was that for a country like India, Internet is an extremely important platform, for innovation, startups, banking, for any government application be it health, tele-medicine, education, agriculture or PDS. It is going to become even more important in the view of IoT ( Internet of things) and other applications. Therefore, it is important to keep it open and free, and ensure that it is not cannibalised.

Trai has not explicitly defined net neutrality (NN). Why?
I think NN means the network should be neutral to content which is being accessed through them, they should not prefer one content over the other, they should not throttle, fast lane or block. If the customer is paying for the data, then he should have the final choice to decide where he goes. The telecom or Internet service providers should not guide, hinder or modify the choice of the customer in any way. TSPs (telecom service providers) should just do their data wheeling, and the choice of content should be left to the consumer.

Trai has excluded ‘specialised services’ from net neutrality. What could be such services?
Say, for doing a remote surgery, those services where you have extremely critical quality of service requirements and which are not Internet part. They require specialised resources; it should not be a substitute for Internet access. For example, B2B. A bank which has dedicated pipes within its branches for a network, which is specialised and not using Internet. It will be a class of services — but they should not double up as Internet access with fast lanes, and they should not be detrimental to existing Internet users.

For example, IoT as a class is not specialised but certain aspects like autonomous cars will come under specialised services. Specialised services may continue to evolve, so DoT ( Department of Telecommunications) should specify them. If they ask us, we will share (our views) as well.

What is the reason for allowing reasonable traffic management practices (TMPs)? Can’t they be misused?
Telcos should have the freedom to exercise TMPs, in case the lines are jammed or any mishap, or saving the network in case there’s a cyber-attack — those are legitimate functions that telcos will have to perform. However, those practices should be transient (applied only for the duration of the jam, for instance), proportionate and transparent. We have also specified the disclosure norms where telcos have to inform Trai and DoT as to what measures have been adopted and the impact that the measures will have on consumers.

What about content delivery networks (CDNs)? Some telcos have tie-ups with CDNs. Would they flout rules?
CDNs are facilitating the Internet access in a non-discriminatory manner, and if there’s an agreement with CDNs, then that should be disclosed, because they should not violate any NN principles in the garb of CDNs. Telcos will also have to tell the government and Trai the specialised services that will fall under the exempted list. The principles have been defined. We have suggested a multi-stakeholder body, not dominated by one kind of participants, will look into the issues of rules being flouted.

What are the penalties for violation?
We have recommended changes in the licence conditions and other provisions, so whatever are the penalties for violating the licence conditions will also be applicable here.

Will Trai regulate telcos on NN till the time the recommendations become rules?
The unified licence clearly says that there should be unrestricted and non-discriminatory access. It’s not as if pending these recommendations people can have a free hand. Trai has the responsibility of enforcing the actions under the licence as per its Act. So, recommendations should not become a prerequisite for enforcing the licence conditions which are already pro net neutrality. Trai governs quality of service, tariff and interconnect; we will continue to regulate.