Airtel India Breaking Net Neutrality, Charging Extra for VoIP (Skype, Viber)

[SangeetKhatri]

Guys, the Net Neutrality violations are now spreading to Indian Subcontinent as well. Airtel is introducing charges for apps using VOIP and government is trying to block porn access. There should be a way to stop this.
 

HIghlights :

• We can’t call your friends and relatives in foreign countries for free.
• We can’t use Viber and other apps to stay in touch with friends. You need an extra recharge.
• We will have to pay Rs. 1.8 (3 US Cents) per minute to Rs. 4.5 (7 US Cents) per minute for voice calls on Skype. About $2 for HD Video Calls over IP.
• This is a gross violation of the principles of Net Neutrality.

Possible things in the future :

• Pay extra for WhatsApp and messaging apps (Airtel wants you to send SMS!)
• Pay extra for accessing your app store. (After all, lot of data is consumed by app downloads!)

More information on http://netneutrality.in

[Misanthrope]

Here is a thought: If your government is serious about this charges it should be on all VOIP, henceforth all call centers in India should be charged this much too putting all of them out of business immediately and for good (Since you know someone in Philippines or us in Mexico would quickly take over all those call center jobs) 

 

After all what's good for the goose is good for the gander right?

[A.D.A.M]

*sigh* this is pretty sad.My ISP bans Skype from being downloaded  (huh weird i can access skype.com now ) and has a gaming "booster" package where you pay extra . Damn ISPs

[Volbet]

That is just ridiculous. VoIP doesn't even use that much bandwith (a maximum of 55Kb/s if memory serves right).

Atleast video has some sort of resemblance of an argument behind it. This all smells like making the money lost with the loss of landline phones.

 

Isn't there any other ISPs that can compete, and show this ISP that it's a bad idea to screw the consumer? 

[Tedster]

*sigh* this is pretty sad.My ISP bans Skype from being downloaded  (huh weird i can access skype.com ) and has a gaming "booster" package where you pay extra . Damn ISPs

Wow. Well I've just had all the torrenting sites in the world blocked.

[SpaceSquid]

Airtel's speeds are really bad anyway and they impose a lot of data caps, isn't Reliance better than them?

[Misanthrope]

Airtel's speeds are really bad anyway and they impose a lot of data caps, isn't Reliance better than them?

 

Not the point: If they are allowed to do this all their competitors will.

[qwertywarrior]

a free VPN would solve this issue but yeah this sucks

[FakezZ]

They will probably stop doing it after their customers start leaving... It's business, you do something stupid, you lose customers, you'll rethink before you pull bullshit in the future...

[Volbet]

They are charging because it is popular, not because it is something that they are struggling to provide.

I know. I was just pointing out how bad their argument would be, if they decided to make one. 

[A.D.A.M]

I know. I was just pointing out how bad their argument would be, if they decided to make one. 

Well ISPs for the most parts (the crappy ones) never really made sense anyway.

[TheGFactor]

Okay, this is a load of BS. Hopefully more countries and internet providers don't see this and think "well damn we could be doing that too"

Cuz I would be paying millions of dollars for my skype calls >.<

[SangeetKhatri]

They will probably stop doing it after their customers start leaving... It's business, you do something stupid, you lose customers, you'll rethink before you pull bullshit in the future...

 

The thing is that if in India one data provider starts something, then all the other data proviers start doing that. It has happened that way in the past. I hope it doesn't happen this time.

[FakezZ]

The thing is that if in India one data provider starts something, then all the other data proviers start doing that. It has happened that way in the past. I hope it doesn't happen this time.

Wow... That is kinda stupid tbh. I mean it is like following someone that just fell off a cliff

[Misanthrope]

They will probably stop doing it after their customers start leaving... It's business, you do something stupid, you lose customers, you'll rethink before you pull bullshit in the future...

 

That's what a bit deceptive about this: It is a gross violation of net neutrality and one that will pave the way for future, even more egregious violations, but not many people will care actually: most people do not make buying decisions based on long distance calling and not only that but only an even smaller percentage of people are tech saavy enough to know they can use VOIP to save a bunch of money on long distance calling. This move wouldn't cost them too much in terms of customers but it helps them set up a precedent for future bullshit that will but since this would be the legal precedent, too bad we're all doing it cause other measures can potentially force competitors to follow suit: If company A is able to significantly drop their prices and boost their margins by company specific sponsored fast lanes and such, company  B without said subsidies just wouldn't be able to compete and would be forced to get some of their own

[Simons]

Lets just hope that other ISPs are not so freaking retarded..

[GoodBytes]

I want to say that people should vote with their wallet, but I think people will just pay it up, and too bad, making other ISP join in.

[connorpiper]

Wow, I have 5 hour Hangouts calls daily. This would suck. 

[FakezZ]

That's what a bit deceptive about this: It is a gross violation of net neutrality and one that will pave the way for future, even more egregious violations, but not many people will care actually: most people do not make buying decisions based on long distance calling and not only that but only an even smaller percentage of people are tech saavy enough to know they can use VOIP to save a bunch of money on long distance calling. This move wouldn't cost them too much in terms of customers but it helps them set up a precedent for future bullshit that will but since this would be the legal precedent, too bad we're all doing it cause other measures can potentially force competitors to follow suit: If company A is able to significantly drop their prices and boost their margins by company specific sponsored fast lanes and such, company  B without said subsidies just wouldn't be able to compete and would be forced to get some of their own

well, I think that this is going to change and people will start knowing more about tech. Also, we have the responsibility to teach them if they don't know, so as to make the right decisions. So yeah I think that while there are definitely going to be people that will blindly fall for lower prices, but if this becomes more widely known, then people will actually start to care and ultimately make the right decision.

[SangeetKhatri]

What feels bad is that I shared this thing on my facebook with about 200 friends and till now only 1 guy has shared it.
Compare this with hundreds of share a typical "1 like/share = 1 pray for child / cancer / animal / tits / any other bullshit" .Most people are just not aware what this thing actually means and how it can affect them. They will get to know it only when they use Viber and find out that all their prepaid money (95% of India uses Prepad SIM) has gone.

[Misanthrope]

well, I think that this is going to change and people will start knowing more about tech. Also, we have the responsibility to teach them if they don't know, so as to make the right decisions. So yeah I think that while there are definitely going to be people that will blindly fall for lower prices, but if this becomes more widely known, then people will actually start to care and ultimately make the right decision.

The thing is that if this ideas are not killed off right now, by the time people are tech saavy enough to care it would be too late.

[zacRupnow]

ISPs are worse than North Korea.

[mayu]

This sucks, lets hope this stops soon before other networks and especially ISP's follow

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

People should vote with their wallet and bycott such companies. Being an Indin, I really feared this day, but still anticipated it since most other countries follow America, regardless of whether America's actions are good or bad. Now it's upto the consumers here- their actions will dictate the future of the internet here.

 

To any Indians reading this- this is your world and only you can change it. Take charge.

[Trik'Stari]

Wow, so that's somehow fair?

 

 

This kinda shit, is why, as a species, we can't have nice things.