How to connect India without Free Basics

In the wake of massive protests against Facebook’s Free Basics service, ET’s Neha Alawadhi and Krithika Krishnamurthy take a look at the alternative methods to ensure internet connectivity for all. How to Connect Rural India Ad-based model Mozilla, in partnership with Grameenphone, gave 20 MB free data to users in Bangladesh after they viewed an…

“Facebook alone won’t do anything for us.” What rural Indians think about Free Basics

Over the last few months, the activism against Facebook’s free internet in India has been called “elitist” and “self-righteous.” An opinion piece in The New York Times, for instance, called the opposition “elite Indian condemnation of internet for the poor.” Most voices that have come out in criticism of Free Basics—which provides free but limited…

Net Ambiguity

Net neutrality is a principle that promises equality for all packets of data over the internet. The topic has spurred wide public debate and credit for this goes to Trai, which has set high standards for public consultations. In August 2014, faced with growing demands by telecom companies for separately charging users and internet companies…