Internet.org
is Facebook’s initiative of offering free internet services for apps
and services which have partnered with Facebook and various service
providers.
In
India Facebook has tied up with Reliance Communications in an effort to
bring Internet.org to smartphone as well as feature phone users. But at
the Mobile World Congress, telecom service providers such as Vodafone,
Airtel and Telenor have made their discomfort clear when it comes to
offering free Internet services over expensive telecom networks.
According
to a report in The Times of India, there was a disagreement between
Zuckerberg and a lot of telcos regarding distribution of free internet
services at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The main bone of contention
is the billions of dollars worth of investment made by telcos for
spectrum acquisition and increasing cellphone tower reach. The main
argument leveled by telcos present at the event is that Zuckerberg is
serving his own personal business interests by providing free internet
access over telecom networks.
At
his MWC keynote, Zuckerberg had said, “Our mission is to help people
connect. This will help people stay close to their loved ones, and get
access to services like health and education.”Internet.org which is
available to smartphone as well as feature phone users, does succeed to
an extent on that front as it offers free internet services if you are a
Reliance Communications subscriber (in India). At the moment, only 33
websites and services are available to users. The bouquet of services
span across genres having a healthy mix of news websites such as BBC
News, IBNLive, Times of India; educational services such as Wikipedia,
Translator, wikiHow; sports websites; Health and welfare services such
as BabyCentre, iLearn, Socialblood and so on.
Vodafone
chief Vittorio Colao was quoted as saying that Internet.org wasn’t
fair. “It is almost like Zuckerberg does philanthrophy, but with my
money,” he said. Considering Facebook hasn’t partnered with Vodafone, it
is not clear what Colao means when he says ‘with my money’. One can
only assume he is referring to the potential loss of customers who may
be opting for free internet.org over Vodafone data plans.
Airtel’s
Sunil Mittal was also said to have had dinner with Zuckerberg, but had
not been impressed with the Facebook founder’s idea of offering free
internet calls. This is quite interesting, considering Airtel is the
telco Facebook has partnered with in Zambia for internet.org.
That
Facebook’s Internet.org programme is in clear violation of the concept
of net neutrality, which believes in equal access to all services to
everyone, is already under debate. When doing our hands on with the
Internet.org website,under the social media section we just saw
Facebook, which left out other social media services such as Twitter or
Google+.
Even
within Facebook, you could only read status messages, like and comment.
If you wanted to view photographs on Facebook, you were prompted to buy
one of the many plans offered by Reliance Communications. The very
concept of having a limited number of partners or web services,
immediately puts competing services or apps at a disadvantage.
Telcos
on the other hand are already facing pressure thanks to messaging and
VoIP calling apps which have hit their SMS and call revenues. Opposing
free internet on a telecom network, is a natural progression for them.
Not long ago, Airtel had come out with a circular to have a separate
data plan for VoIP calling, but later retracted it. The Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is supposed to release a
consultation paper on issues relating to services offered by OTT (over
the top content) players including VoIP services.
As
far as India is concerned, it is still early days as far as
Internet.org is concerned as it was just launched last month. Telcos
other than Reliance Communications might face issues in rural areas
where users might just opt for free internet plans using internet.org.
The net neutrality debate will keep rearing its head because as
philanthrophic as it may sound, there is no denying the fact that
Facebook will get more users thanks to Internet.org.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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