Facebook's Internet.org effort hits India hurdle

A series of Indian media and technology groups have walked away from Internet.org, the Facebook-backed initiative to help more people in the developing world get online, in a battle over net neutrality that is set to damage founder Mark Zuckerberg's pet project.

Cleartrip, a prominent travel ecommerce group, became the latest to pull out, joining news channel NDTV and Newshunt, a media start-up. The Times of India group, which publishes the country's most-read English language newspaper, has also pulled some of its services from the coalition.

The moves intensify a battle in India over net neutrality, a term used by campaigners who want all data online to be treated equally, meaning broadband and mobile companies should not charge different fees depending on the content transmitted on their networks.

Internet.org provides free access to some but not all types of online information, raising the ire of those who say all content should be treated equally.

The row over Facebook's project follows a decision earlier this week by Flipkart, India's leading ecommerce group by revenue, to withdraw from an app provided by Airtel, the top-ranked mobile operator by users, citing similar concerns.

Launched in 2013, Internet.org is a high-profile push by Mr Zuckerberg to bring the internet to those who lack it, largely in the developing world, via partnerships between Facebook and telecoms companies. 

In India, which is also Facebook's second-largest market by users, Internet.org linked up with billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications. 

These partnerships allow particular services or apps to be "zero-rated", meaning users are not charged for the data required to access them.

Although this aims to make services such as healthcare advice more accessible, its approach has been criticised by net neutrality advocates.

Cleartrip announced its intention to quit via Twitter on Wednesday evening. "Time to draw a line in the sand, Cleartrip is pulling out of http://Internet.org & standing up for NetNeutrality," it said.

The decision to stand up to Facebook, the world's largest social network, is a sign of wider confidence in India's booming ecommerce sector, which has been buoyed by a spate of eye-catching funding deals for local start-ups - more than half a dozen of which now enjoy valuations of more than $1bn.

The dispute also makes India the latest front in a wider battle in which global regulators are wrangling over whether telecoms companies should be allowed to prioritise certain content, such as streaming service Netflix, which uses hefty amounts of bandwidth.

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission this year banned broadband networks from charging differential fees. The EU is considering an alternative set of proposals.

Internet.org declined to comment, but Mr Zuckerberg said earlier this week that the project could "co-exist" with net neutrality regulations.

"I think net neutrality is important," he said on his Facebook page. "For people who are not on the internet though, having some connectivity and some ability to share is always much better than having no ability to connect and share at all."

Facebook has previously said it could benefit from Internet.org, if the project succeeds in attracting millions of new users to its app. The group is also experimenting with drones and lasers to beam the internet to far-flung corners of the globe.

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