AIB team has made an awesome video on this subject: Save The Internet and seriously I don’t think anyone of you won’t be convinced after watching the video. But still, I believe we have to discuss this here. We have to talk about what can happen if we don’t take immediate action and what would be the consequences.
So, what’s the issue?
A few months back Airtel came up with this new scheme or whatever you call it where customers would be charged separately for using video conferencing services like skype etc. Basically, if you were thinking that an internet connection was all you needed to call up your relative in Canada, you were going to get the biggest shock of your life after you get the bill. They planned to charge extra for every second you spent on video calling or voice calling through internet.
Thanks to people like you who created a huge uproar on social media, Airtel had to step back and such a thing was never implemented. But now, they are coming with greater force. All the Indian telecom companies are together in this initiative where they will make huge money and people like us would have to pay more and more for using internet.
They are trying to abolish the concept of net neutrality. What is net neutrality? It is a concept that says that all the websites on the internet are equal. There can be no discrimination on any basis over the internet. But if such a concept stays, telecom giants would find no way to make extra money.
In fact, if net neutrality isn’t practiced in the country, telecom companies can make a lot of money. How? They know you love watching videos on YouTube, they will have a separate ‘extra’ charge for using YouTube. Then they know you love using Skype to connect with your loved ones, they will just ask for a ‘little’ extra charge for using that. The same would happen with every popular sites and apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc.
What about smaller sites? If you’re planning a startup or are a blogger like me, forget the chance of making it big on internet without having a huge investment ready. When I started off with making money on internet, I didn’t spend even a single buck in the beginning. But such a thing would never be possible for any newbie who wants to use internet to make some money. Why? Only the sites with heavy data usage (in normal terms) would be affected. What if companies have special internet packs that allow people to use Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube only? Who would want to pay extra to visit a new site?
Forget about using internet for business purposes. The normal internet usage charges would go so high that a normal Indian won’t be able to afford it. Of course, they would try to make a fool of you by saying that you have a ‘general’ internet pack but all your favorite websites would be PAID i.e. you would need to shed a lot of more money out of your pocket.
This video that AIB team has created would give you more details on what is going to happen and it has all the proofs which you might need to believe that the thing is real and it is important to save the internet. Really!
What do you need to do? Visit this website, Select submit response and that would provide you with content that you can use in your email as well as the addresses of the concerned people. Read the response, copy it and send the email. Lets save the internet now. Make sure you be quick for we have really less time left to express our discontent for the same.
Yep, we all need to voice our opinion on net neutrality. Good thing is that TRAI has already declared that they have recieved 1 lakh petitions , also some politicians are vouching for net neutrality. Let’s hope the government takes care of it.
Hey Arpan,
We are definitely hoping for a decision that we all want. Many politicians have also said that they are supporting net neutrality. But nothing can be said until the final regulations are passed in written format.
m agree and please save the internet…and for AIB keep it up for really awesome video.