TRAI on Net Neutrality: Internet services should be non-discriminatory

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has finally issued the much-awaited recommendations on Net Neutrality, under which the regulator asserted that internet services should be non-discriminatory. It also suggested the government set up a body to monitor activities.

"The service providers should be restricted from entering into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory treatment based on content, sender or receiver, protocols or user equipment," a release issued by the sector regulator said.

The regulator said that internet access services should be governed by a principle that restricts any form of discrimination or interference in the treatment of content, including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.

The recommendations also mention that the terms of various license agreements governing the provision of internet services in India be amended in order to incorporate the principles of non-discriminatory treatment of content by internet access services along with the appropriate exclusions and exceptions.

Trai has also urged the government to establish a multi-stakeholder body with a framework for collaborative mechanism among the stakeholders for the purpose of monitoring and enforcement.

The regulator added that 'Specialised services' will be exempted from the principles of discriminatory treatment. Services which are optimised for specific content, protocols or user equipment, and where the optimization is necessary to meet specific quality of service requirements shall not come under the principles of discriminatory.

It also said that Department of Telecommunications (DoT) would identify the specialized services.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) which enable a Telecom Service Provider (TSP) to deliver content within its network without going through the public internet, are exempted from the scope of any restrictions on non-discriminatory treatment, consultation paper further added.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) T has finally issued the much-awaited recommendations on Net Neutrality, under which the regulator asserted that internet services should be non-discriminatory. It also suggested the government set up a body to monitor activities.