TRAI rejects FB threat to Digital india

Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is set to reject differential pricing for data services, a move that would mean the end of controversial services like Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel Zero. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visited India trice in the recent months, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also students of various institutions, selling the idea of Free Basics. In fact, some interested people campaigned for it as their own. Free Basics was an idea that would fetch profits for Zuckerberg alone. The TRAI will issue an order rejecting Free Basics within a week, top sources said. The order is also expected to bar free or subsidised data packages that offer access to only a select services such as Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp messenger. "These are discriminatory and are against the concept of digital democracy. We will not allow them," a source said. Software Wizard Nandan Nilekani had already warned the people against Free Basics, saying that would be the end of digital India, same as what TRAI is saying now. The regulator's stand will clear the confusion over net neutrality. There were apprehensions over the manner in which free Internet was being offered, after the introduction of some zero-rated platforms with preferential treatment to a few websites for a fee.