Lessons from global practices on “zero-rating”

A new report on how regulators have picked ‘good’ from ‘bad’

I’m excited to announce my latest report on how regulators, globally, have assessed “zero-rating” offers and decided whether or not they violate net-neutrality rules. Read the full report

Zero-rating, for the uninitiated, is a term of art that refers to charging discounted rates for internet access based on the content being accessed. It initially described content that had “zero” data charges but this discount now comes in a variety of ways — generous, or no data limits applicable to accessing particular content (this could be for a particular service, say “Facebook Free” in Nepal, or a class of services, say for music streaming like the “Music Freedom” offer in the US). It could also mean buying internet access plans restricted to certain sites, like social media internet packs. Most familiar to users in large parts of Asia and Africa was the model that provided entirely free access to a selection of web content — like, “Facebook Free Basics”.

Facebook Free Basics became particularly controversial in India, and eventually, all forms of zero-rating were banned by the telecom regulatory authority (TRAI). 

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