NEW DELHI: The telecom regulator has backed an open Internet, and proposed tweaks to licence conditions to bar blocking or slowing down of content, while allowing fast lanes for ‘specialised services’ and keeping ‘content delivery networks’ out of the ambit of net neutrality , as it released its much-awaited recommendations on the controversial subject on Tuesday.“Internet access services should be governed by a principle that restricts any form of discrimination or interference in the treatment of content, including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai ) said in its 54-page recommendation to the telecom department (DoT).Trai has said telecom or Internet service providers should be barred from signing pacts that can lead to discriminatory treatment on the Web, based on content, sender, receiver, protocols or even equipment. It has recommended changes in the licence conditions and other provisions so that the penalties for violating licence norms would be applicable here as well.“For a country like India, Internet is a very important platform. Therefore, it’s important that Internet is kept open and free… No one owns Internet, so everyone owns it,” said Trai chairman RS Sharma.The regulator has exempted content delivery networks, which do not use public Internet, from restrictions on non-discriminatory treatment. Analysts said this will benefit telcos such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, who are trying to create their own content ecosystems.“We believe the CDN (content delivery network) exemption is likely to benefit integrated operators… We expect RJIO and Airtel to sustain leading positions in this space. They could leverage CDN exemption and offer platform content at lower prices to drive traction within their subscriber base,” brokerage house Edelweiss said in a report.The regulator has left it to DoT to decide the ‘specialised services’ that can be exempted from the purview of net neutrality. It clarified that this tag should only be applicable to those services where optimisation was necessary to meet specific quality of service needs.“Specialised services can be like tele-medicine, critical for quality of services, but not those that can be substituted for Internet,” said Sharma.Trai also allowed carriers or Internet access providers to use some traffic management practices (TMPs) on their networks to ensure quality of services, preserve security of networks, providing emergency services and for implementing a court order or government direction, as long as they are transparent and their impact on users is declared.“The authority may, from time to time, frame appropriate regulations to specify further details regarding the scope and assessment of reasonable traffic management practices,” the regulator said.ACTIVISTS SATISFIEDNet neutrality activists appeared to be satisfied with Trai’s proposals.“Essentially, this differential access ruling affirms the principles of non-discrimination that were established by Trai in the differential pricing ruling last February. This is a victory for Internet users and ensures they can create operate freely without fear of discrimination from TSPs (telecom service providers), who have been barred from blocking them or slowing them down, except under exceptional circumstances,” said Nikhil Pahwa, cofounder, Internet Freedom Foundation.DoT will take a final view on Trai’s recommendations. The government has so far been vocal about its backing for a free and open Internet, and has opposed the so-called ‘walled garden’ within which certain content is prioritised.“I am very happy that Trai’s report today in many ways reinforces India’s course for a digitally inclusive world where monopoly of anyone will not be allowed,” said IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.Angel Broking’s Mayuresh Joshi said Trai had prescribed stringent monetary penalties for any violation of its norms on net neutrality.“The penalty will start at Rs 50,000 per violation per day and the overall penalty could go as high as Rs 50 lakh depending on the gravity of the violation,” he said.But telcos were upset that while they have to adhere to net neutrality guidelines, these would not apply to over-the-top (OTT) players such as WhatsApp. They also opposed the proposal to include Internet of Things (IoT), which is expected to be a big revenue generator in the years ahead under 5G technology, within the ambit of net neutrality.“We are disappointed that OTT communications service providers, who offer data-based call services, have been exempted from the provisions of net neutrality while licensed telcos have not, suggesting that licensed operators are on a lower footing than unlicensed players,” said Rajan S Mathews, director-general at Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).CONSULTATION ON OTTSTrai subsequently said it would begin a separate consultation on regulating OTT players such as WhatsApp, Viber and Facebook.The regulator has also recommended that DoT establish a multi-stakeholder body comprising telecom operators, Internet service providers, content providers, civil society organisations and consumer representatives to monitor and probe violations.The report advocating net neutrality was released just when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US, headed by Indian-origin chairman Ajit Pai, is looking to roll back its rules on the concept.FCC will vote on December 14 to revoke the net neutrality rules that barred broadband providers from blocking or slowing down access to content or charging consumers more for certain content. Various US Internet companies such as AirBnB, Twitter, Reddit and Tumblr have opposed the move.In India, the debate over net neutrality began late 2014 after Bharti Airtel wanted to charge more for calls made over the Internet, but was forced to nix it after a social media uproar.Then early next year, it was alleged that telcos were violating the principle of net neutrality by tying up with content providers and providing them tollfree access.In February 2016, Trai barred discriminatory pricing of data services, including zero-rated plans such as Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero, as it dealt with the net neutrality issue from a tariff perspective.Trai’s Tuesday proposals follow its full consultation paper on the subject of net neutrality released in early 2017. That paper posed 14 questions that sought to define the concept in the Indian context and the need for rules around management of data traffic by telcos on their networks.Trai backs net neutrality, free and open internet.Allows carriers or internet access providers to use some traffic management practices (TMPs) as long as they're transparent and their impact on users is declared.Recommends amendment of license terms to incorporate principles of non-discriminatory treatment of content.Recommends restricting any form of discrimination or interference in the treatment of content, including practices like blocking, degrading, slowing down or granting preferential speeds or treatment to any content.Says discriminatory treatment based on the sender or receiver, the network protocols, or the user equipment will not be allowed.Exempts specialised services - those other than internet access services - have been exempted from principles of discriminatory treatment.Asks DoT to define the specialised services.Also exempts content delivery networks - used by telco to deliver content within its own network - from from principles of discriminatory treatment.Allows internet access service providers to take reasonable measures for traffic management, provided they're proportionate, transient and transparent.Allows for reasonable measures to preserve integrity and security of network , for provision of emergency services, a court order or government direction.Recommends telcos to declare their traffic management practices as and when deployed, and their impact on users.Recommends disclosures by telcos about specialised services, direct or indirect arrangements they enter into.Suggests DoT to set up a multi-stakeholder body for monitoring and investigation of violations.