India must break out of its internet connectivity conundrum: India has among the world’s lowest data communications tariffs. With the entry of Jio to the market in late 2016, prices per MB have been set up to fall even further over the next few years, forecast by PwC/Strategy& to reach 5 paisa (less than 1…
The impact of Internet shutdowns: There were over 27 Internet shutdowns in 2016. Often, the same sequence of events plays out — communal unrest flares up, sometimes fueled by fake news, and the authorities see messages proliferating online, sometimes on messaging apps like WhatsApp, as a prime factor. Consequently, the Internet is shut down for…
4G Internet likely to be restored in Kashmir: After the government restored 2G internet services, High speed internet likely to be restored late evening on Friday. Blanket ban on internet was imposed by authorities on 27th May after Hizb Commander Sabzar was killed in an encounter. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir had snapped the…
This American Venture Capitalist Says India is Second Largest Internet Consumer After China: Mobile Internet is witnessing an unparalleled growth in India as more and more people are expressing keenness to consume the internet every year. Surprisingly, it’s not the social networking apps like Whatsapp and Facebook that are dominating the mobile internet space. The…
Internet ban in Kashmir- Who is behind it?: An RTI query by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) revealed that the internet ban in Kashmir was not ordered by official authorities. The home department and the divisional commissioner’s offices which are responsible for law and order hadn’t ordered the clampdown. Kashmir had suffered for…
No, Google’s Not a Bird: Bringing the Internet to Rural India: TARADAND, India — Babulal Singh Neti was sitting with his uncle on a recent afternoon, trying to persuade him of the merits of the internet. It was 105 degrees outside, and the sun was beating down on the frazzled croplands. His uncle said he…
Facebook’s Internet.org Helps Fill Internet Gaps in India: Just 26% of 1.3 billion Indians had access to the internet in 2015, but the government believes that 338 million number will shoot up to 730 million by 2020, thanks to increasing penetration in the rural areas. The government in 2011 launched an effort to provide broadband…
Facebook Allies with Airtel to Roll out Almost 20,000 Wi-Fi Hotspots: The leading telecom partner of India, Bharti Airtel, has collaborated with Facebook to install over 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to offer the Internet that uses Express Wi-Fi service of Facebook in India. The company said that this alliance will help Express Wi-Fi to extend to…
New ISRO satellites to bring high-speed internet to Indian users: In a bid to bring high speed Internet connectivity, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced plans to launch three communication satellites in the next 18 months. Kiran Kumar, ISRO Chairman notes, “We will launch three communication satellites, GSAT-19 in June and GSAT-11 and…
The future of the internet depends on you: In this article Andreas Reventlow writes about the role that new participants can play in human rights advocacy for internet policymaking, now that these processes have become more accessible to non-experts. These reflections also provide a timely introduction to the next public event in the Defending Human…