Thanks to the overwhelming response the net neutrality report got within one day, August 20 is now the final date on which the public can give their feedback on it. It’s the last chance for anyone with an opinion on the issue to express it before their views are submitted to the government.
PTI reports that the number of comments in the discussion forum jumped from 700 on August 14 to 33600 on August 15, the initial deadline. It’s currently pushing at about 69000 and could very well be more once the final day rolls in. The majority seem to be backing the implementation of full net neutrality.
It’s no surprise given the greater part of over a million people said the same to TRAI back in April when it asked the populace for its views on the issue. The rapid increase in posts on the MyGov website is probably due to the online campaign that was launched by AIB a few days before the cut-off date.
According to the suggestions by the Department of Telecom (DoT) panel, domestic calls made through VoIP services such as WhatsApp and Skype should be regulated. Airtel had previously tried a similar approach but had to withdraw the plan after it faced a severe backlash.
As per its scheme, each GB of data used for VoIP through 3G would cost around Rs 4000, while coming to about Rs 10000 via 2G. It’s a stark contrast between the Rs 249 it was charging at the time for 1GB of 3G data and Rs 175 for the same amount on 2G.
The DoT committee’s recommendations seem to be favoring Airtel in another aspect too. The company had earlier introduced a zero rating platform where websites and services had to pay in order to be accessed for free. While this clearly goes against the principles of net neutrality, the panel gave it a clean chit while simultaneously barring similar initiatives like Internet.org.
Also Read: This AIB video on net neutrality will be pointless tomorrow (Watch)
Head on over to the MyGov website if you want to post your opinion on net neutrality before August 20.