There’s no place like the Internet when you want to stage a protest, something that all of you who’ve been voicing your support for net neutrality will already know. Ever since people started kicking up a stink about Airtel Zero, no developer or online business has wanted to touch it with a 10-foot pole.
For those who aren’t in the loop, Airtel was planning to let app developers or web-based brands like Flipkart, Amazon and others to pay your toll when you visit their websites. So why should you be complaining about free data, right?
Imagine this – Yahoo pays Airtel to let you use its mail service without being charged for data, while Google doesn’t do the same. More and more people will start accessing Yahoo mail, while Gmail which is unarguably a better email option, will see its user base shrink. There are a lot of start-ups out there which could get buried before they even have a change to take off because a bigger company that may offer a crappier service, enables you to access it for free over the Internet.
Related post: AIB releases funny video asking you to support net neutrality and ‘Save the Internet’
There are lots of people who support platforms like Airtel Zero because they’re not looking at the larger picture. Sure, many more from developing countries would connect to the web if they didn’t have to pay for data. But letting Flipkart, Facebook and others to hijack the Internet experience by paying Airtel to serve their content free of charge will allow companies with cash to keep growing until they monopolize the market. There won’t be any room for innovation and audiences will eventually be force fed content or services, no matter how awful.
As Deepinder Goyal put it in a series of tweets, he couldn’t have built Zomato if a competitor had taken advantage of a platform like Airtel Zero which clearly violates net neutrality. He also expressed concern over the possibility of the telecom company bullying the TRAI into agreeing with it. With everyone from Flipkart to Cleartrip to big media publications now backing out of initiatives that fight against net neutrality, it won’t be long before Airtel bows to public pressure, we think.
Also see: Flipkart ditches Airtel Zero following online furor, now joins support for net neutrality
This is not the first time Airtel has stirred up controversy over its data services. Let’s just hope it won’t get its way yet again. This MediaNama post from 2009 will make some feel nostalgic about the years before the company started the trend of providers limiting broadband speeds.