5 things you need to know about DoT's Net Neutrality recos

Ritika Dangemoneycontrol.comThe Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday submitted and later made public a report on Net Neutrality. The debate on Net Neutrality- or freedom of the internet- has picked pace in the recent few months leading to the report. The panel, led by Advisor for Technology A K Bhargava has emphasised a consumer's right to Net Neutrality. Here are some of the key points of the report:

1. 50-50 for WhatsApp, Skype users While the panel has recommended keeping the over-the-top (OTT) messaging service of WhatsApp unregulated, it has said voice over internet protocol -VoIP or voice calls (provided by apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype) within India may be charged separately. This comes on the back of Indian telecom companies demanding a more level-playing field as they have suffered losses on international traffic due to the players.

2. No extra fees for Facebook, YouTubeThe panel hasn't recommended any extra charges for using social media services (Facebook, YouTube), media services (broadcasting, gaming), trade and commerce services(e-commerce, radio taxi, financial services), cloud services (data hosting & data management platforms/applications).  The report says despite the fact that services are being offered to end-users using the network infrastructure created by telecom service providers (TSPs), they do not directly compete with the service offerings for which the TSPs have obtained a licence under applicable law.

3. Zero-ratingThe panel refrained from giving any view on zero-rating, leaving the decision-making with sector regulator TRAI. Zero-rating is the practice of TSPs or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) not charging end customers for data used by specific applications or internet services through the TSP/ ISP's network, in limited or metered data plans.

"Zero rating favours sites, services and applications having the ability to strike deals with TSPs/ISPs, which may not have any incentive in entering into commercial tie-ups with firms that have a small market share," the report said in order to maintain a level-playing field for start-ups. 4. Traffic Management

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Ritika Dange

Senior Copy Editor|Moneycontrol.com

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The panel believes that for issues ranging from traffic management to security and integrity of networks, most internet providers manage traffic at peak times. While sometimes it could be a legitimate requirement, companies should not resort to application-specific control, wherein they spare the time sensitive applications and performing congestion control on time insensitive applications. The panel, recommends treating all IP traffic in the same manner.

Though it has not given any particular recommendation on "search neutrality," the panel has flagged principles of Net Neutrality as a concern for public discussion. It has said search engines should have no editorial policies other than that their results be comprehensive, impartial and based solely on relevance.

5. Facebook's Internet.org and Gatekeeping

The panel came heavily on Facebook's Internet.org, criticizing it for violating net neutrality norms. Internet.org is a partnership between Facebook and few companies that plans to bring affordable access of selected Internet services to less developed countries.

Until April 2015, Internet.org users could have free access for only a few websites, and the panel deemed Facebook’s role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were in that list as violating Net Neutrality.