India's Net Neutrality Campaign Picks Up Steam, Sites Withdraw From Internet.org

First time accepted submitter arvin (916235) writes The Huffington Post reports on prominent Indian websites withdrawing from Facebook's internet.org initiative. The net neutrality debate in the country has focused on zero-rating, where ISPs offer a free data plan which provides access to a set of websites that pay to be included. Internet.org provides free access to Facebook, Bing, Wikipedia and a few other websites. Another similar service, Airtel Zero, lost its flagship partner as e-commerce company Flipkart withdrew following a social media backlash.

Net neutrality activists believe that as these plans proliferate, access to the open internet will become extremely expensive or unavailable, innovation will slow as for startups are prevented from reaching the market, and the competitive consumer ISP market will be replaced with a cartel negotiating against internet companies. In a campaign similar to that in the US, over 630,000 Indians sent responses to their regulator through the website savetheinternet.in.

Comments

Re:Sounds like internet.org is offering

[jblues]

Most people who can't afford Internet in the third world tend to have much more pressing issues like being unable to feed themselves.

I live in a developing country, roughly on par with India - middle income by global standards, at about 7K per family per year. Infrastructure well on its way to being developed, but still straining to cope, widespread poverty. You get the picture.

You might be surprised about how far the internet can penetrate. In the squatter areas families live on subsistence income and shanty housing - heavy crowding, dirt floor kitchen, ground-water wells (in close proximity to the pit latrine). Yet cellphone coverage is still good, and smartphone ownership is common. Although most days involve hand-to-mouth living, smartphone is a first choice luxury item when people come by a little extra money, especially with family breadwinners working abroad. These folks are all on pre-paid plans, with a typical up-front purchase being about 0.45 USD of credit for for or 5 days. From this, via SMS command messages, eg 'SURF PLUS NOW' its possible to allocate 0.11 worth of internet surfing, saving the rest for SMS messages, and a little talk-time. With many subscribers, this is good business for the telephone companies.

Another popular service offered by cell-phone companies is the ability to send micro-payments via text message. So in an unexpected emergency like an illness or injury, disbursed family members can text in money to cover costs - an informal family insurance system. As the middle-class base expands, perhaps we'll see more business models based on this kind of thing in future. (Bill Gates certainly thinks so).

NB, the term '3rd world' remains popular, but is somewhat antiquated. Technically it means:

• * 1st world : Countries aligned with western democratic nations.

• * 2nd world : Countries aligned with eastern communist nations.

• * 3rd world : Non-aligned countries.

. . . though is popularly take to mean 'poor' & and 'under-developed'.