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Net neutrality is the concept that all websites
on the internet are treated equally. The debate over access and
neutrality has grabbed headlines in India this week after
leading telecom carrier Bharti Airtel announced a product
through which mobile "app" makers pay for data usage to allow
customers to use their apps for free.
Activists and some users in the country, home to the world's
third-largest population of Internet users, argue such platforms
and subsidized access go against the idea of net neutrality.
Start-up firms say they could be at a disadvantage against
deeper pocketed rivals.
Travel portal Cleartrip.com and Indian media conglomerate Times
Group were the latest to take a public stance: both said on blog
pages on Thursday that they would pull out of Internet.org,
which also offers access to a limited portion of the Internet
for free.
Facebook partnered with Indian telecom carrier Reliance
Communications to launch Internet.org in India in February,
making it the first country in Asia to get the app.
Aimed at low income and rural users, Internet.org's app offers
free access to more than 30 pared-down web services, including
job listings, healthcare and education sites, as well as
Facebook's own social network and messaging services.
Facebook and other defenders argue Internet.org complements
India's efforts to bring more people online.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has been vocal about a
free Internet in the past, defended the initiative in an article
for the Hindustan Times newspaper on Thursday.
"Net neutrality is not in conflict with working to get more
people connected," he wrote. "We will never prevent people
accessing other services, and we will not use fast lanes."
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Clara Ferreira
Marques)
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