Was Airtel's attempt to charge differently for VoIP calls fair?

Question

Let me put the context first -
Sometime back Airtel (fourth largest operator in the world with total 300m+ subscribers) has announced that VoIP calls (skype, sip etc) would be charged higher then normal data access to discourage the data usage for Voice.

Now all of us know net-neutrality is not the reality but was it fair, what would be the long term impact of this on call rate, telecom sector profitability etc.

(by the way they have roll backed the plan but legally they can roll out anytime as net neutrality is only for the wire-line infrastructure by law)

Want to know the opinion of the others?

Comments

By the way Federal Communications Commission i.e. FCC in USA is planning to Vote in Feb so it not a India Specific Problem rather global.

---

On behalf of Bart (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LTE.Professionals/?fref=nf )
I'm under the impression this is where the telecom market goes.
Voice has become less and less profitable business, now data is the king and everyone will try to squeeze max out of it.

Answer 1

This was highly unfair keeping in mind their own network conditions in India.
If someone wants to charge for a specific service they should first guarantee the QOS for the same and have a normal no QOS guarantee option also wherein no extra charge is accrued .
Airtel's attempt was like asking for a toll on a broken road/highway.
My advice to airtel is to first get their network in order and then think about such schemes.
BTW most people use viber/skype over Wi-fi

Comments

Thanks...
Hope operator will understand the users angle beyond the profit only.

Answer 2

This is totally unfair.

Airtel's wants extra charge for ‪VOIP‬ is like a WATER company charging extra because, YOU decided to use your water for coffee instead of laundry.

This a good sign i.e they have roll backed the plan for time being.