Net neutrality: Why it is important?


Net neutrality: Why it is important?


Net neutrality means that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all traffic and content on their networks equally. Means all traffic and content coming through traffic should be treated equally.

There are mainly four players in this game.

1.Internet Service Providers like Airtel, Vodaphone, Reliance, tatadocomo etc...
2.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which is responsible for formation and implementation of rules to telecom companies.
3.The Internet companies like Facebook, Google, yahoo, whatsapp and other …..
4.Consumer

What is net-neutrality and how it would affect you?
In current situation the internet is giving equal oppurtunatity to every website. Any type of websites, social media sites consume the same amount of data that you have purchased with a particular ISP. But in the absence of net-neutrality, your ISP might favour certain websites over others for which you might have to pay extra money. One Website might load at a faster speed than other because of some deal of that particular website with ISP.

TRAI is in process of draft consultation seeking views from the industry and the general public on the need for regulations for over-the-top (OTT) players such as Whatsapp, Skype, Viber etc, security concerns and net neutrality. The objective of this consultation paper, the regulator said, was to analyse the implications of the growth of OTTs and consider whether or not changes were required in the current regulatory framework.

What is an OTT?
OTT or over-the-top refers to applications and services which are accessible over the internet and ride on operators' networks offering internet access services. The best known examples of OTT are Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, e-commerce sites, Ola, Facebook messenger. The OTTs are not bound by any regulations. The Trai is of the view that the lack of regulations poses a threat to security and there’s a need for government’s intervention to ensure a level playing field in terms of regulatory compliance.







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