Citing Net Neutrality, India Blocks Facebook’s FreeBasics, Other Un-Tariffed Mobile Services

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Facebook’s FreeBasics has been under fire in India over net neutrality violations for months, and now the country’s regulator has weighed in hard on the issue: FreeBasics and services like it have been banned, according to an announcement from TRAI.
FreeBasics is Facebook’s strategy to build up its user base in developing parts of the world by teaming up with carriers in local markets to give free access to specific sites (like Facebook) by way of a group it founded called Internet.org. In India, Facebook had been working with Reliance Telecom to offer the service.
The ban today comes after TRAI temporarily banned the service in December.
To be clear, the announcement and the wider report that lays out the conclusion in greater detail do not single out Facebook or FreeBasics by name, but it was the emergence of this program that caused outcry and prompted the investigation by the regulator. The new rules, furthermore, outline the essentials of FreeBasics as the kind of service that will no longer be allowed:
  1. No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content.
  2. No service provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that has the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being offered or charged by the service provider for the purpose of evading the prohibition in this regulation.
  3. Reduced tariff for accessing or providing emergency services, or at times of public emergency has been permitted.
  4. Financial disincentives for contravention of the regulation have also been specified.
Facebook is possibly the most high-profile advocate of unmetered selective service, but there have been others like Flipkart that have tried to team up with carriers like Airtel to provide unmetered service around their specific mobile apps.
It’s not clear how specific carriers versus content providers are being impacted by today’s rules.
The ruling comes after TRAI opened a consultation with key stakeholders in December and an open house forum to discuss the rules in January.
While this may be a victory for net neutrality supporters, others might see it as a step back for the wider growth of smartphone usage in the country, where a large part of the population cannot afford services without subsidies.
But as a solution to that problem, FreeBasics has been something of a PR disaster for Facebook, with even the company’s attempt to start a “Save FreeBasics” campaign backfiring after it sparked controversy.
We have reached out to Facebook for comment for this story. We will update this post as we learn more.

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