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India: Facebook’s ‘Free Basics’ service banned

By  |  February 9, 2016

Following serious controversy between Facebook and net neutrality advocates since long, the latter has finally won its claim to shut down free, albeit limited, Internet service in India. The Indian telecommunications regulator has banned the technology giant’s Free Basics service, reports the Wall Street Journal. The ban is effective from today, with rules that the company should charge same prices for accessibility to any website.

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    The main issue with Free Basics was that it violates net neutrality rules, as the company gained unfair advantage over other Internet providers and made an uneven playing field by offering the service for free. There were also controversies on accessibility to limited websites and that only Facebook could control what could be accessible.

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    The corporation, on the other hand, claimed the opposite by saying that the program was aimed to provide Internet service and connectivity to the population in India, which is currently deprived of any such service. Limited websites were offered considering the needs and Facebook’s potential of providing free services.

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