Delhi-based ISP Excitel offers four Internet plans, three of which serve YouTube and Hotstar at twice the speed of the rest of the Internet. In addition to these streaming services, software updates from Apple, Android, and Microsoft are also sped up. This is done via peering arrangements, where Internet providers connect directly with online content providers to improve the quality and speed of service for their customers. Excitel's ₹799 plan, for example, provides Internet access at 10Mbps, but YouTube, Hotstar, and software updates are 20Mbps, twice as fast. The same applies to the other two plans in the above screenshot. Meanwhile, Sifi Broadband, also based in Delhi, engages in the same behaviour. On their Internet plans, YouTube and Hotstar are between two to five times faster than the rest of the Internet. On peering arrangements Peering arrangements are common, and large Internet companies frequently connect directly with Internet providers (eg. Netflix Open Connect and Google Edge). Although there is no consensus on whether peering in itself is against net neutrality, offering peered services at twice the speed of the rest of the Internet is a clear violation. By putting YouTube and Hotstar on a "fast lane", Excitel puts competing services like Vimeo and Netflix at a disadvantage. Fast lanes have been the subject of contentious debate in the US and other countries where ISPs lobbied the government hard to allow them to engage in paid prioritisation, where some paying websites and services would be faster for the Internet providers' customers. This practice is problematic because…
