TRAI - regulating ISPs and evolution of Internet in India
Amitabh Singhal, founder and director-general of ISP Association of India, has a story in the Hindu on how TRAI is imposing regulatory burdens and hindering the evolution of Internet and Internet based services and content in India. He refers to a Dec 2006 consultation report by TRAI about the ‘Review of Internet Services’. You may wonder why a story in April for a report released in December last year.
Quoting his view,
Imposing regulatory burdens on ISPs is a dangerous portent. Instead of removing the causes of market failure, needed are measures to boost free and fair competition. It should not end up protecting a limited number of players, forcefully weeding out weaker players, restricting the entry of new players. If that happens the nation can either kiss the ambition of being an Internet/broadband economy goodbye or wait inordinately for miracles to happen. Forget developing innovative content and applications that fuels Internet usage, or even let a market develop for hosting and such services.
Read the entire column here.
