Re: Airtel wants to pierce net neutrality, charges more for VoIP

With all due respect, the idea that the free market will cure these ills 
is somewhat misguided. The most immediate challenge to address is the 
lack of resources, whether we consider those resources to be spectrum or 
pole location/right of way for wireline services.

If we drill down on the spectrum issue, we find that in densely 
populated locations, it would be impossible to support very many 
independent competitors before all the available spectrum would be 
saturated.

Turning to the wireline path, both the cost to install fiber (or copper 
lines) as well as available pole space (or continued construction in the 
right of way) makes unending addition of competition impractical if not 
impossible.

More to the point is the barrier to entry created by the total cost to 
build out such a network.

Additionally, the issue of return on investment, where the bulk of the 
competitors will focus only on the locations which will support the 
highest returns is problematic. In the US we refer to this process as 
"redlining" where we see one side of a street being serviced by fiber 
and the other having low bit rate DSL. Reduced to its simplest, this 
allows some corporate bureaucrat to arbitrarily assign who will see 
service and who won't with the end effect being the creation of a 
digital divide, oftentimes setting the property values in a given area 
or choosing which business location will survive or die.

Please note - at no time am I suggesting that competition isn't a good 
thing but rather explaining why, in practice, when limited resources are 
turned over to the free market, the implementation is typically 
catastrophic.

In short, we have a problem, let's not exacerbate it.

Ken DiPietro
Been there/Done that/Still carry the scars.

On 12/28/2014 04:40 PM, Ratnendra Pandey wrote:
> We  should allow Airtel to charge for VOIP or streaming if market 
> would let it do so.  And we should also allow consumers to choose a 
> provider with whom they agree on charges and service levels. This will 
> bring more profits into the industry which will be then followed by 
> more suppliers trying to take a share out of that profit.   The 
> consumers best bet is a strong competition providers, a  market in 
> which suppliers are fighting like cats and dogs for business from 
> consumers.
>
>   The problem is VOIP is prohibited in India ( My knowledge of Indian 
> telecom my be outdated. I would like to be excused and corrected if 
> the facts have changed).  The consumers will immensely benefit if we 
> have free competition among providers and consumer use their 
> purchasing power and market knowledge to pick the right services. 
> These kind of disputes will disappear if the market is freed and 
> innovation is allowed in product and services.
>
> Some have suggested net-neutrality. All the talk of net-neutrality is 
> a backdoor effort to bring more government interference into already  
> substandard internet/telecom market in India. We may like to talk of 
> fancy words like net-neutrality and what not. But, I think the focus 
> should be on making high quality internet available to anyone who is 
> willing to pay market price for it.
>
>
> If I have to make a choice between net-neutrality and 
> net-availability.  Net-availability will be my choice.  I do not want 
> an inferior internet that net-neutrality will bring.
>
> Instead suggesting more restrictions on Airtel, why do we not petition 
> for opening markets and removing legal barriers on commercialization 
> of any technology?
>
> Sincerely,
> Ratnendra Pandey
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 06:40:24 +0530
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> CC: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [india-gii] Airtel wants to pierce net neutrality, 
> charges more for VoIP
>
> Is anyone aware of any organised response / reaction to this issue? 
> The line silence is deafening
>
> On Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 10:51 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
>     Airtel to charge up to 16 times* the standard data rate for using
>     Skype and other VoIP services
>
>     Airtel seems to be implying that this move has TRAI sanction.
>
>     *per rate mentioned in other newspapers
>
>     --
>
>     Airtel wants you to pay extra for using Skype, Viber, more
>
>     If you use services like Skype or Viber to make calls over Airtel's
>     mobile data network, be prepared to pay extra. Yes, we know you
>     already pay Airtel for for that data. Doesn't matter. Airtel has added
>     this line to the terms and conditions of its 2G and 3G data plans:
>     "All Internet/data packs or plans (through which customer can avail
>     discounted rate) shall only be valid for internet browsing and will
>     exclude VoIP (Both incoming/ Outgoing). VoIP over data connectivity
>     would be charged at standard data rates of 4p / 10 KB (3G service) and
>     10p / 10 KB (2G service)."
>
>     VoIP, or Voice over IP, simply means voice data that is tranferred
>     over the internet. The next time you're shooting the breeze on Viber,
>     Skype or Google Hangouts on your phone, keep in mind that Airtel will
>     charge you you even if you're already paying for that data.
>
>     Airtel's move flies in the face of net neutrality, which is a hot
>     topic round the globe. In the United States, for instance, there is a
>     proposal to provide "fast lanes" for data intensive video-streaming
>     services like Netflix and Hulu. Simply put, internet services
>     providers want to charge these companies extra for carrying their bits
>     to the consumer, even though the consumers are already paying the
>     service providers for internet access in the first place. Last month,
>     President Barack Obama came out strongly in support of net neutrality
>     by saying that "a free and open internet was as critical to Americans'
>     lives as electricity and telephone service and should be regulated
>     like those utilities to protect consumers."
>
>     The timing of this move isn't surprising. Whatsapp, which has wiped
>     off a large part of SMS revenues for mobile service providers in
>     India, has long been rumoured to introduce voice-calling over data.
>     Indians already pay some of the lowest rates in the world for voice
>     calls and carriers like Airtel are afraid that once people start using
>     data to make voice calls, these revenues will be wiped out as well.
>
>     Indeed, in August, the Telecom Regulation Authority of India (TRAI)
>     had quashed a proposal from Indian telecom companies to charge
>     over-the-top players like Whatsapp and Viber extra "connectivity
>     charges." TRAI stated that telcos could make up for the lost revenue
>     with the increase in mobile data usage.
>
>     In a statement to Hindustan Times, an Airtel spokesperson said: "We
>     have made some revisions in the composition of our data packs, and
>     will offer VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) connectivity through an
>     independent pack that will be launched shortly. Our customers can
>     continue enjoying voice calls over data connectivity by opting for
>     this VoIP pack, or simply use VoIP services on pay-as-you-go basis."
>
>     Which basically means this: unless you buy a seperate VoIP pack,
>     you'll be charged extra for making calls using Skype, Viber and other
>     services. If you don't think net neutrality is something to lose sleep
>     over yet, think about this: If it's VoIP today, operators might start
>     charging you extra to stream YouTube or use a music service like Saavn
>     tomorrow. It is not immediately clear if other operators will follow
>     Airtel's move.
>
>     http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1300013.aspx
>     © Copyright © 2013 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     India-gii mailing list
>     India-gii-IAPFreCvJWP2/[email protected] <mailto:India-gii-IAPFreCvJWP2/[email protected]>
>     https://lists.india-gii.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________ India-gii mailing list 
> India-gii-IAPFreCvJWP2/[email protected] 
> https://lists.india-gii.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> India-gii mailing list
> India-gii-IAPFreCvJWP2/[email protected]
> https://lists.india-gii.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii

_______________________________________________
India-gii mailing list
India-gii-IAPFreCvJWP2/[email protected]
https://lists.india-gii.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii