The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is likely to issue its recommendations on net neutrality in a month. “All stakeholders are actively participating in this (net neutrality) debate. I think TRAI should be able to give appropriate recommendation to the government, which they have asked for,” said R.S. Sharma, Chairman of TRAI.
Speaking about the timeline of recommendations, Sharma said, “It should not take more than a month,” indicating that TRAI is close to a decision.
The net neutrality debate in India had been sparked in 2014, when Airtel started a plan that charged customers for voice calling over the Internet at base rates. The issue has since spanned over multiple other moves, including Facebook’s Free Basics. TRAI had ruled against the Free Basics platform.
While Facebook promoted Free Basics as a way to get Internet coverage in the remote areas of the country, many saw it as a walled garden. TRAI banned the service citing the same, and Facebook has not talked about the platform in India since.
The regulatory body’s ruling in the matter will be important for the future of Internet based services, and ISPs in India.