Facebook: there is no inconsistency in supporting net neutrality and offering zero-rating services

In response to a public consultation launched by the Indian telecom regulatory authority on the practice of ‘differential pricing for data usage’, Facebook is defending its Free Basics service, while underlining that the company is ‘a strong supporter of net neutrality’. The letter says that there is no inconsistency in supporting the core principles of net neutrality and offering zero-rating services that benefit consumers and promote competition. Facebook also says that zero-rating services has benefits that are ‘supported by concrete evidence in India and throughout the world’, and that economists ‘have shown that zero rating spurs Internet adoption without any market-distorting effects’.