Apps shouldn't be allowed on closed networks, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma urges TRAI

E-commerce and digital wallet company Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has requested telecom regulator TRAI to prohibit any apps available on the Internet from being offered on closed communication networks, or intranets, says this report. The Economic Times report says that he has raised this issue to prevent the misuse of a clause in the new rule barring discriminatory pricing of data, that sent Facebook’s Free Basics packing.

“If a kind of content is available on the Internet, it can’t be made available to a closed network at a differential price — that’s the clarity we want,” Sharma told ET. He asked TRAI to clearly define the ‘closed communication electronic network’ (CECN) which can be a potential loophole in the regulator’s stand on banning discriminatory pricing that exempts data services offered over such intranets. The report explains that by definition, a closed communication network can be created without directly connecting to the Internet.

While TRAI’s guidelines are being hailed as a positive step towards ensuring net neutrality, the concept is open to interpretation and operators can easily derive other means of violating it. ET reports that telcos have also sought clarity on the clause that exempts data services offered over closed networks, to ensure they aren’t wrong-footed at a later stage. They have sought details on the concept and scope of a CECN, and how TRAI intends to operationalise it.

There are other non-price based mechanisms that telecom operator can resort to. That includes data throttling – which involves slowing down the access speed of a particular website. Netflix was famously throttled by services providers like Comcast and Verizon because their cable revenues were directly affected. Read more about such mechanisms here.