Airtel on Monday launched a service called Airtel Zero. On the face of it, this looks like just a regular value added service from a telecom operator. It is meant for app developers and web service providers. The plan, as Airtel explains, is to allow app developers or web service providers to pay money to Airtel so that these apps and services can be accessed by Airtel users for free.

This means if an app pays money to Airtel, consumers on Airtel network will be able to use it without paying any data charges. For example, consumers who have Flipkart installed -- Flipkart is rumoured to be a company paying Airtel money to be part of the Zero plan -- will be able to access the app without paying data charges.

Airtel calls it a win-win situation for everyone. It says that by allowing app developers or web service providers to push their stuff to consumers it is helping them reach more people while for consumers the benefit is that they will be able to use these services without paying any data charges.

What the company doesn't mention is that this service violates the concept of net neutrality, a basic principle around which the internet has been built.

It has serious repercussions.

There are many aspects to the net neutrality. And there will be a lot of talk about them in the coming days as TRAI, the telecom regulator, holds its consultations on the matter. But for now, let's see how Airtel Zero can prove to be extremely damaging for not only consumers as well as for app developers.

Currently, when someone comes up with a bright idea -- like how Flipkart's founders came up with this idea of e-commerce site in India -- all he or she has to do is create a website or an app and launch. Once the app is out in the market it competes with similar other apps and if it is good then wins.

With its Zero plan, Airtel is muddying the water. It is inevitable that once an operator is allowed something like the Zero plan, others will follow. So soon the Indian market will have all telecom operators offering Zero data plans for apps that pay them money. This is going to make the market fragmented. For consumers, this means they will get uneven experience. For example, if they access Flipkart on an Vodafone connection they will be charged for it. But if they access it on Airtel connection, they won't be. At the same time, hypothetically speaking, if they access Jabong, which (hypothetically) is paying Vodafone for zero data plan, they will not be charged for data.

At one level nothing seems wrong with this situation. But see it from the perceptive of consumers. Considering that accessing one app will cost them money and one won't, they are more likely to access the app that won't cost them money. This behaviour may even propel consumers to not compare prices between various apps, something that is going to benefit companies like Flipkart. The competition between various apps and services will go down because each will live in their own silos. End result: higher prices and poor service for consumers in the long run.

This is without even taking into account additional measures that companies like Airtel may introduce. For example, in future they may even allow faster access to apps that pay them or promote app developers that are giving them money.

For app developers, the Zero plans are even more dangerous. Once common, these plans will add an extra step that app developers will have to deal with. If you want your app to succeed, you will have to pay telecom operators and most new app developers may not have that money. For companies like Flipkart it won't be a big deal to pay a few million dollars to companies like Airtel every month but for a new developer it may not be an option.

This has bigger implications for the whole internet ecosystem. Internet is a great leveller. But with plans like Airtel Zero in place, it will turn into an unequal place where an app developer or a web service provider will win on the basis of the fat wallet and not on the strength of the idea.

Airtel Zero is not new. Facebook, Twitter, and Google etc already have some sort of tie-ups with telecom providers to push their services for free to consumers. But these are more experimental services. And conceptually even they are not good for the internet ecosystem in the long run. But if allowed by TRAI and supported by companies like Flipkart, Airtel's Zero plan is really the beginning of the end for net neutrality in India. For a country that is still in the dark ages when it comes to web connectivity and related services this is very very bad.

Also Read: Explained -- What is Net Neutrality

