Why Is Net Neutrality Important?

BENGALURU: People are glad to hear that one of the most popular e-Commerce sites Flipkart has pulled out of its tie-up with Airtel-Zero. Net Neutrality is after all the only reason which led to the development of such applications. And if internet has to be charged at different rates and speeds it would confine the boundaries of innovation. To be clear, there will be no possibility for Google like browser from India.

There are of course certain losses faced by the telecom companies and broadband due to the Over the Top (OTT) services like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and the like. However barring net neutrality would prove a crushing loss for both consumers and the businesses. Therefore if we gauge the loss the repercussions are even worse when we have net neutrality. This is one angle to look at the issue. While the other angle would be that net neutrality would create a bias in the country as big as India. It is after all the openness of the internet which became the equalizer across the geographies

However the uniqueness it has is what makes the internet vulnerable across the globe. Profound dangers still persist because of its vast network. It is even more vulnerable today because of the mobile phones which replaced the PCs. Telecom companies can easily create access barriers, keep competition out, give unfair advantage to established businesses or even harm the process of innovation.

It’s because internet was free, Wikipedia is an open service today, Gmail beat Microsoft’s Hotmail and if it continues to remain free it is the consumers and not the telecoms and the Internet Service Providers who decide the winners. And if it is barred we might have to go backwards in the process of evolution rather than going forward.

Also Read: Net Neutrality: Pros And Cons
Net Neutrality: All You Need to Know