Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI, releases recommendations on Net Neutrality

TRAI

Our Correspondent / NEW DELHI

Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI, has restrained service providers from entering into pacts with any person which discriminates on content, protocol or user equipment. The authority in its recommendation on Net neutrality said that the scope of non discriminatory treatment applies specifically to Internet services which are generally available to the public.

It has also defined Internet access services to remove any ambiguity. TRAI said, the discriminatory treatment in the context of treatment of content would include any form of discrimination, restriction or interference in the treatment of content including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.

It has recommended that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) may identify specialized services. However, the specialized services may be offered by the service provider only if they are not usable as a replacement of Internet access services. Internet of Things (IoT) as a class of services are not excluded from the scope of restriction on non-discriminatory treatment.

However critical IoT services identified by DoT would be automatically excluded. The other recommendations include reasonable measurement for traffic management by Internet access service provider.

Click here for TRAI full Recommendations on Net Neutrality