An Indian Dilemma : Internet.org

In recent times, there have been numerous debates and massive public outrage about Internet.org in India. Why is Internet.org attracting huge public attention?

Internet.org basically refers to the partnership between Facebook and telecom companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm) that aims to bring affordable selected Internet services and access to less developed countries by creating new and efficient business models for increased connectivity.

A philanthrophic initiative?
Facebook(FB), the social networking platform that connects people globally defines Internet.org as a philanthropic project to provide internet connectivity and internet services at affordable rates to the have-nots of the society. "Connectivity can't just be a privilege for some of the rich and powerful. It needs to be something that everyone shares and an opportunity for everyone." - Mark Zuckerberg, Founder Chairman and CEO of Facebook.

Some of the altruistic benefits attributed to Internet.org are illustrated below-

•  Free access to selected sites including news, job sites, health information 
•  Opportunity to help develop economy 
•  Connect Indian rural sector 
•  Create new job opportunities, better health care

Today, India is the second largest market for Facebook after the US with over 130 million Facebook users. It is estimated that total number of internet users in the country, is going to leapfrog that of the US.

Peeking under the hood reveals a more intriguing story about Internet.org. Critics have raised issues about net neutrality violations and Facebook’s monopolistic ambitions by favouring own services over its rivals. Software techies and startup companies in India have been the most ardent critics of Facebook's internet.org with growing concerns about net neutrality. Until April 2015, Internet.org users could access (for free) only a few websites, and Facebook's role as a gatekeeper in determining the websites list has been controversial as regards net neutrality violations. In May 2015, Facebook announced that the Internet.org platform would be opened to all websites that met its selection criteria. There has also been re-branding(renamed Free Basics) by Facebook to address these concerns. The Free Basic app allows developers to launch their applications, provided they meet certain criteria. At present Free Basics provides upwards of 250 services in 19 countries including India. In fact, Zuckerberg held a town hall meeting at IIT Delhi to leverage the IIT brand to push internet.org and let it gain mass momentum and consensus in India.

What is Net Neutrality?

•  All content available on the internet is equal and all websites must be equally accessible to everyone.
•  Once user pays for an internet plan, he should be allowed to access any website without discrimination or restriction.
•  No matter which telecom operator is providing internet services, the user should be able to access all data on the internet.

Business Strategy
Internet.org in India established in collaboration with Reliance Communications, offers the following –

•  Eligibility restricted to Reliance users
•  ‘Free access' only to services of Facebook and its selected partners
•   Consumers do not have to pay for accessing Internet.org websites, but will  have to pay to access the open web.

Monopolistic implications
Consumers do not choose which sites are available on Internet.org. Facebook reserves the right to select services applying for Internet.org. This leads to a monopoly of services of selected companies (including, Facebook). Consumers would lose the ability to choose freely among competitive services and sources of information. It would also significantly decrease the edge providers could gain from innovating, further decreasing consumer choice.

While Internet.org currently does not include advertising, what would happen if it introduces advertising for its users later, with a revenue share being given to its telecom operator partners? Competitive pressure would ensure that the service cannot exit and more advertising would get channelised through Facebook.

All services in Internet.org have to abide by Facebook’s terms and conditions, which gives Facebook non-exclusive access to all content. This allows Facebook to become more powerful, collating not just their own data usage, but also of other services. Ironically, Facebook has terms that prevent developers from using data from Internet.org for advertising purposes.

Internet.org will effectively create a global digital divide with two categories of users: those on Internet.org (low bandwidth free version with limited services in partnership with FB) and those on the open web(higher cost). This might also create a situation where the services provided in Internet.org might be subsidised by those using the open web. Telecom operators typically pay for data when Internet.org gets used, and that eventually might end up being paid for by users of the open web. The cost differential discourages users to move to the open web.

Data Security - Internet.org aims to encrypt information “whenever possible” to protect user privacy.However, it does not always provide encryption at critical points when users browse online.Users will be able to confirm that their connection to Internet.org itself is encrypted, but they will have no way of knowing if their interactions with websites are encrypted at every point between them and the website. For instance, users will be unable to verify if they are conducting a banking transaction with a real bank as the bank’s website exists behind the Internet.org pathway. This is dangerous for users who will be banking online, or conducting other critical or sensitive transactions online through Internet.org.

Does this mean that Internet.org is Facebook’s business strategy to acquire new markets and get new customers? Is this a FB marketing tool?
Does limiting users access to only Facebook and selected affiliates, pose a threat to net neutrality in disguise? Can Internet.org co-exist with net neutrality? Will Internet.org be the game-changer to disturb the open eco- system?

Neutral options
Long term solutions from telecom companies coupled with conducive policies by government to set up high-quality and dependable internet infrastructure are instrumental for practical, wide-spread internet adoption in India. There are other neutral alternative ways of providing free Internet like subsidising internet access for users by advertisements, companies offering free data, based on their website usage, donations to provide subsidised internet access for the poor, costly data plans to subsidise internet access for the under-privileged, to name a few.

Internet.org is still a concept in its infancy and execution of the idea would still need to battle the long debates and deliberations regarding its neutrality, consequences and pitfalls.Whether Internet.org can prove to be a neutral option is an open question yet to be solved. Monopolistic strategies, in the long run, could lead to internet dictatorship which defeats the global vision of the open inter-connected free net.