In developing countries, where nearly all users pay for their Internet on a capped and metered basis, zero-rating — where access to some content, commonly social media and text-messaging apps, does not count toward the user’s data cap — is a subsidy that can be important to operators, content providers and users. However, zero-rating is controversial, raising issues of net neutrality — the concept that all content should be treated equally on the Internet — market power, privacy, security and social equity. This paper examines arguments for and against zero-rating, in the context of emerging markets.
