We all use internet and in recent times we all have heard about Net Neutrality. You may have some confusion regarding Net Neutrality. What it is and how it’s going to affect us. So let’s discuss about it and know how important it is in our life. So basically Net Neutrality has become a hot topic in US and in India as of now things are well. But the things happening in US might happen in India someday. So as internet has become very important nowadays, we all must be aware of it and know how important it is for a better internet experience.
So let’s first know the concept of Net Neutrality. Suppose a user is using internet. So things like how he is using internet, in what device he is using , what internet connection he is using, all these things should be neutral.
It should not be like,
- When you are using Facebook you are getting faster internet and on using Youtube you are getting slower internet.
- When you are using a particular website, you are getting better speed and on using any other website you are experiencing slowness.
So internet access should be open and equal for all. It should not be dependent on which company’s connection you are using or what device you are using. This is the main concept of Net Neutrality, where internet should be neutral; the user should get equal experience. We already have internet differentiation like high speed and low speed plans, but apart from this, there should not be any discrimination considering internet access. So now we knew what Net Neutrality is. Let’s discuss what will happen if net do not remain neutral. In such case, the complete power will be with ISPs. They will be able to control what we view on internet, how we view and how much we use. So suppose you are using Airtel’s internet connection, it is going to control what, where and how you are consuming internet. In all over the world countries have different laws to govern Net Neutrality. In India internet is neutral. TRAI is governing this in India and net is neutral as of now. But in China, net is not neutral. Google and Facebook do not work there. In European countries net is neutral. In US internet was neutral but now FCC(Federal Communication Commission) says net is not neutral and ISPs can control internet as per their requirement. So we have discussed what Net Neutrality is and where net is neutral and where it’s not. Now let’s discuss as an internet user how it is going to affect us.
Let’s talk about a basic example:
Your ISP knows Youtube is a very popular service, everybody use it. Your ISP may charge you extra for watching youtube apart from your regular monthly bill. Your ISP may block Youtube completely, because they want to promote Facebook. They may want all the traffic towards Facebook. You may not be using Facebook, but you will have to use it as you might not have any other option. Your ISP might slower the internet speed on using Youtube and gives you a faster speed on using Facebook. So you will thing Youtube has become slower and you will switch towards Facebook.
Let’s take an example of online shopping experience:
Your ISP may slower internet speed on using Flipkart and gives you better speed on Amazon. So you will lean towards Amazon.
Let’s take another example:
NTSPL is one of the best hosting services provider in India. But some other hosting services provider company may pay your ISP so that their websites will serve faster than NTSPL which will grab traffic to their website and you will get lower browsing experience in NTSPL website.So big companies will be able to pay your ISP and control your user experience. As already said, in India net is neutral, but if it going to change, we all should be aware of it so that we can support Net Neutrality when required.
