37% rural youth sans Internet access: Study
Four of five Indians could afford the internet if data costs fell by 66 percent, according to a Facebook-commissioned report on Internet access. But Indian telecom operators already run data services at a 11 percent loss, making cost-cutting difficult.
The statistics mean that a data plan currently priced at Rs.100 should not cost more than Rs.34 if India has to make the internet affordable for 80 percent of its population. But the adverse economics imply this cannot happen without intervention from the government – whose Rs.20,000 crore ($2.9 billion) plan to connect each of India’s 250,000 panchayats with broadband by 2018 is three years behind schedule.
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