Facebook CEO bats for net neutrality

Amid the growing debate on Net neutrality vs zero rating programmes in India,  Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg in a Q&A session with users worldwide defended his company’s Internet.org programme.

Zuckerberg said that network operators shouldn’t “discriminate and limit access” to all services. However, on the implications of Internet.org for Net Neutrality, he said, “For people who are not on the internet though, having some connectivity and some ability to share is always much better than having no ability to connect and share at all. That’s why programs like Internet.org are important and can co-exist with net neutrality regulations.”

He added that the company is working with the governments and network operators who “are most excited about working with Internet.org to get everyone online in their countries.”

Zuckerberg’s comments are of particular interest in India right now, as a debate around net neutrality has sprung up. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is working on a consultation paper which will address the issue. Airtel meanwhile drew ire from consumers when it announced Airtel Zero, a platform through which app makers can pay Airtel to provide free data access to their apps to end users. This sparked a strongly negative reaction and raised the issue of net neutrality in the public eye.

The Q&A session, which was held on Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile page, is just the latest public appearance by the social-networking site’s billionaire cofounder, who devotes time about once a month for public appearances. To that end, he has held public question-and-answer sessions in the US, Colombia and Spain since November.

Internet.org is a free internet initiative launched by Facebook, to connect users in remote or underdeveloped parts of the world. Facebook is tying up with the governments and local telecom companies in the areas it is launching the initiative in order to bring a few basic net-based resources to users currently off the grid, for absolutely free. The service has already been launched in Ghana, Tanzania, Colombia, Zambia and Kenya, with the latest addition being a tie-up with Reliance Communications for an India launch.