Indian Web and media companies Cleartrip, NDTV, Newshunt and the Times Group announced that they are pulling out of Facebook’s Internet.org service, an initiative that aims to bring free online content to underdeveloped markets. The Huffington Post reports that the Indian heavyweights are stepping away from the zero-rated service in support of net neutrality, a…
After a nation-wide movement by Internet activists and users against telecom firms which are trying to curb the Freedom of Internet & Choice, a senior TRAI official has hinted that they may take action against these anti-net neutrality plans. Prima facie, it has been discovered by TRAI that Airtel Zero and Internet.Org, both are offering…
Rural India and Gujarat led a record 35% surge over a year in mobile-phone and computer-based transactions with the government, an indicator of demand and future potential in recreating India’s interaction with its government. Hosted on mKisan—a portal that allows central and state government organisations to potentially connect over text messages with more than 80…
As the fight over net neutrality in the U.S. reaches the litigation phase, India’s version of the battle over Internet rules is just heating up. The situation on the subcontinent shares some similarities with its American counterpart: a backlash against a regulator who seems to favor telecommunications companies over Web-based rivals, an activist-led campaign to…
In October last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited a village in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. Again, in the middle of a raging debate on Net neutrality, he mentioned that trip. Uma Vishnu finds out why Chandauli Hajrat Sapwan is a Dabangg-style police officer, complete with dark glasses and a cap. He soon gets bored of…
Governments should promote sharing of networks and laying fibre cables with other infrastructure such as roads and power lines if they are to achieve universal access to broadband. Sharing infrastructure not only saves time but also provides massive savings when rolling out telecom networks to meet the growing needs of the public for internet access.…