NEW DELHI: Dec 24, 2015, DHNS : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked Reliance Communications (RCom) to put on hold services of Facebook’s free Internet platform, “Free Basics”, till the issue on differential pricing is sorted out.
The regulator also sought the details of terms and conditions of the service from RCom, said an official from Trai, adding that after studying it, the regulator will take a call on the matter.
On November 23, RCom informed Trai about the launch of Free Basics service of Facebook. This platform, which is in the form of a mobile application, allows access to some websites without the consumers paying for Internet charges.
Though RCom had informed Trai about the service which was launched free of cost for its GSM customers, the company did not submit the terms and conditions of the service.
The regulator in a letter dated December 1, asked the company to hold the commercial launch of the service till it studies the terms and conditions.
“No reply from RCom was received so far. Hence, Trai on Wednesday again issued a letter seeking details of service,” the source in the regulator said.
RCom is Facebook’s sole telecom partner in India to offer a set of basic Internet services free to its subscribers. The service is called Free Basics. Earlier it was known as internet.org. However, experts have criticised the Free Basics, saying it was against the spirit of net neutrality.
The debate is still on whether operators should be allowed to have differential pricing for different kinds of contents.