Things you need to know about Free Basics

Free Basics is nothing but Internet.org. It was rechristened as Free Basics in September, just before our Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Facebook’s headquarters. According to Facebook, it is an open platform that gives Indian developers an opportunity to make their services and websites available free of cost to those who cannot afford internet access. 

However, this free access is limited to partner websites and applications. Facebook launched this service two years ago globally in partnership with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm.

Now what is the problem with Free basics? The problem is that, contrary to popular beliefs, Free Basics does not offer equal and unbiased access to all services. Facebook is partnering with Internet providers to provide preferential and selective access. 

This is the main criticism of those opposed to Free Basics; they argue that the internet should be free and equal for all users. This is also the foundation of net neutrality.

Now what’s happening is that, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked Reliance Communications to suspend its Free Basics service. TRAI has also issued a consultation paper on differential pricing for data services, where it has asked if telecom operators if they should be allowed to have different pricing for accessing different websites, applications and platforms. TRAI said some service providers were offering differential data tariff with free or discounted tariffs to certain contents of certain websites, applications or platforms.

With Free Basics, we are letting developers offer zero-rated services. This indicates that Free Basics gets complete access to internet users and their behaviour on Free Basics in addition to controlled environment online.