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India has the highest data usage per smartphone

thehindu.com

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Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#191
post #120
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy crap, why am I paying $35/mo for 500mb? >.<

In the US, if you're not on prepaid, you're paying too much. T-mobile and Verizon have reasonably priced options in direct prepaid. Although, you won't get much cheaper than $35, you should have more high speed data for that, along with unmetered slower data. Third party (or wholy owned subsidiaries) MVNOs are often less expensive as well.

I have 5 lines (3 actively used, 2 mostly dormant) active on Ting (an MVNO) and our total bill is usually $55-65/mo all-in (post-paid).

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#192
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the Supreme Court ruling, "the Aadhaar number must still be quoted to file income tax returns and apply for a personal account number (PAN)."[1] [1] https://qz.com/india/1351263/supreme-court-verdict-how-india... This is just one source but there's lot of others reporting the same thing. Do you have a citation that says otherwise?

I don't have a aadhar card yet and I don't intend to get one. I have a pan card but I had it made a few years ago. I am not aware if things have changed, I'll ask around tomorrow for ground information.

Avoid getting it for as long as you can hold out. If you’re not reliant on government subsidies, the only coercion now is to link it with PAN and also quote it in the tax returns.

If you can afford the penalty for late filing of tax returns, go for that. There are still several review petitions against last year’s verdict on Aadhaar. The Supreme Court, as usual, is delaying hearing those. Check out no2uid on Twitter, rethinkaadhaar.in and others.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#194
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no privacy issues yet (money is directly debited from account without a mastercard/visa involved) Isn’t Aadhar (fingerprints + iris scan) needed to have a bank account? If yes, then it’s a bit disingenuous to say there are no privacy issues. > No risk of fraud A cursory search will show plenty of press articles re UPI fraud. For instance [1]. [1] https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/...

>Isn’t Aadhar (fingerprints + iris scan) needed to have a bank account? If yes, then it’s a bit disingenuous to say there are no privacy issues. Nopes. Govt tried really hard. Attorney General didn't really sound far from Facebook's primary lawyer. But Supreme Court shut it down. >A cursory search will show plenty of press articles re UPI fraud. For instance [1]. I should expand that I meant technical fraud - your ca…

You should check the Aadhaar amendments bill (previously pushed as an ordinance). The government is pushing for Aadhaar linkage on different fronts again, and is also making private access available and easy. One of the places where linkage is being proposed (as it was in the past) is for driving licenses and vehicle registrations.

See this recent opinion piece. [1]

[1]: https://thewire.in/law/aadhaar-rbi-supreme-court-uidai

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#195

and we arent even close to peaking. The biggest telcos in India havent even started content plays. Netflix just entered India. And we still have HALF A BILLION people not on the internet. This is in an environment with constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights to privacy (that cannot be reversed by the govt), a govt run mobile payments infrastructure that is literally a free Stripe+Paypal+Venmo+Alipay and perhap…

> This is in an environment with constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights to privacy (that cannot be reversed by the govt)

There is no data privacy law in India as yet. The one drafted last year has many issues. Saying that the government cannot reverse it is naive. The government can make laws that side with corporates and itself, without providing adequate protections for citizens.

The Aadhaar linkage and re-enablement for use by private companies in contravention to the Supreme Court verdict is another sign that the government can, and will, do what it wants. The Supreme Court is unfortunately not proactive in issues that have the potential to affect all the people in the country.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#196
post #95

I'm from India. I can confirm this. It's because unlimited LTE data costs about rs700 per month or 10 dollars. It can be spotty at times - but it works. Mobile is by far the most used form factor. Search for "Jio" on your app store and you'll see a variety of apps like JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews etc.. That means free news, live tv and movies all for the price of a cell phone subscription. Jio is the name of the servic…

Actually, most plans are way cheaper than that. Most people I know are on a $9 or $10 prepaid plan for three months of unlimited calls, messages and 2GB/day. It kinda covers most typical video usage.

>Actually, most plans are way cheaper than that. Most people I know are on a $9 or $10 prepaid plan for three months of unlimited calls, messages and 2GB/day.

Which providers?

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#197

Americans are going to be livid when they learn how cheap data plans are in India. The reason this works is free market, unlike the US where the likes of Comcast have monopoly in the regions they operate. Hasan Minhaj did a show this week on Netflix, you should watch it - he explains pretty well how horrible Comcast like companies are.

I have seen his two videos on Indian Politics , it's outright, biased.

You can go through the comments of Youtube for more clarification.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#198

Americans are going to be livid when they learn how cheap data plans are in India. The reason this works is free market, unlike the US where the likes of Comcast have monopoly in the regions they operate. Hasan Minhaj did a show this week on Netflix, you should watch it - he explains pretty well how horrible Comcast like companies are.

>Americans are going to be livid when they learn how cheap data plans

Why? They're cheap because the average income in India is 1000 dollars a year. And there is probably little to no regulation when it comes to setting up infrastructure.

Re: India has the highest data usage per smartphone

#199
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Indian creators on YouTube have pretty much surpassed every big name streaming company. I think T-Series would like a word. In all seriousness I think the proliferation of independent content creators is incredible. Maybe content is of lower quality, but it's more fun.

T-Series is not comparable to TV Shows. Yes, it has more subscribers on youtube but it doesn't have that stickiness and loyalty that channels live TVF, AIB (did?), Timeliners etc have. TVF created a series set in 90s India which resonated with the current late 20s crowd so well that it spread like wildfire. If tomorrow, TVF would launch a movie, it will pretty much fill all the theaters in the country.

I'd argue that stickiness has transitioned to independent content creators. Feels like an individual can always be more honest than a corporation even if they're in it for profit.
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