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About Internet.org and net neutrality

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Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#41

Post by nphyte »

blumkvist wrote: post #38
nphyte wrote: post #32

Reading facebooks values, it makes me extremely sad to see what they're doing. No one wants to stand in the way of providing access of the internet to the poor. But it has to be done right. Saying that telecom providers recommend these services without any bias is untruthful. Furthermore internet.org is an initiative to empower people with tools. Not providing them unused/ rarely used services. I get that one of the…

Of course he gets what the problem is. You're being very gullible.

fair point. edited

Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#44

Post by icebraining »

kamikazi wrote: post #25

Here's the full reply from India's SaveTheInternet.in coalition exposing Facebook's chicanery --> http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology-topstories/mr-zucke... This piece can be instructive and useful to others in US/Europe & any country where such deceptive zerorated plans are trying to make their way in. Be it of FB or anyone else. Zuck wants a walled-garden version of internet (with FB as gatekeeper) to be made…

Zuck wants a walled-garden version of internet (with FB as gatekeeper) to be made free for the poor. We're saying poor Indians should have access to the same full open globally-connected internet as we all take for granted. And that free & fair competition will & should take care of things like access on the cheap, sachet-mktg etc. (...) As of today on my Vodafone India plan I can get a 2G plan starting for 22¢.

I agree, but then why the wailing and gnashing of teeth? They've released an inferior product for only 22¢ less than the superior alternative, doesn't seem like such a threat. Just let it fail, no?

Personally, I do think the name is fraudulent (and they should be forced to change it), but the service in itself seems like a non-issue to me.

Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#45

Post by captn3m0 »

What is really missing from this debate is how cheap the internet already is in India. It is not something that needs to be distributed for free.

On my old Nokia phone, I didn't even subscribe to a data plan, and was thus charged at per kb (I'm not sure exactly how much), but I used to read HN, check my email, facebook and much more over Opera Mini.

It hardly cost me 2 INR/day. Now that I am on a smartphone, costlier options are much better for me, since my smartphone uses far more data. But if you can own a 6000 INR smartphone, you can surely pay 100-200 bucks per month for data charges.

Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#46

Post by lewisl9029 »

Not entirely on topic, but sometimes I wonder what would have become of companies like Google and Facebook if they never went public.

I realize that the extra capital helps them better expand and compete, but does every startup have to aim to take over the world?

What's wrong with just providing a useful service to society and having enough revenue to cover your expenses and grow at a modest, organic pace without having to compromise your values?

Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#47

Post by awalGarg »

I will go ahead and show Internet.org about how wrong they are in thinking that offering a few basic services will cover people up. Say they offer,

Google (or any search engine) - the search is useless if the sites returned are not accessible for free. Offering google for free and blocking the rest is like saying, "Hey, you can see all these trailers for free. Wanna see the movie? Pay us a truck load of money." And no, the "preview" is not enough. I cannot ask question on Stackexchange from the "preview", for instance.

Facebook - The people are most likely already communicating with each other. How sharing "pics" and "liking them" for free will give them "raw knowledge" is beyond my imagination. I, among many other people, am not a Facebook user and enjoy my life with all the productivity in the world.

Wikipedia - The thinking that wikipedia contains all the knowledge in the world, and we can get all the information from it is utter crap. Say a poor person in a village wants to learn web development. Tell me how exactly does Zuckerberg think that Wikipedia can teach him JavaScript? Wikipedia provides overviews, stories, and some details, but it can hardly be considered as the library of all books.

News sites - seriously? Radio stations are free, much more helpful, feasible, and have a more affordable infrastructure. And they would be limiting users to only selected news sites so the chances that they get a one-sided view of things is more than likely.

Skype - In India, the rates of phone calls is ridiculously cheap. Indian service providers provide the cheapest phone call rate in the entire world. The problem is not cost of the call rate, it is the lack of infrastructure. Network problems, dropping lines etc.

Cleartrip - Let me tell you something, no poor person will be able to use cleartrip or the likes to book anything since poor people in India don't sit in flights, they don't have credit and debit cards to make online transaction, they don't book hotels.

Anyways, getting a usable internet enabled device is more of problem, IMO. The Indian government still took the most authentic step to help the situation, by making the world's cheapest tablet (Aakash) with a fair spec set. If Internet.org expects poor children to stare at a 3" dull screen showing wikipedia or anything in tiny text all night which can harm their eyes, they really need to think again.

Re: About Internet.org and net neutrality

#50

Post by kamikazi »

Pyxl101 wrote: post #29

One issue that it seems like Mark isn't acknowledging is the fact that participating in Internet.org will give a huge competitive advantage to the companies that are able to offer their services through that platform for free, however it is that they're able to arrange that. How could a competitor to one of these websites compete in that market segment when, in order to access it, you need to be on the "paid" Interne…

> It's too expensive to make the whole internet free. Mobile operators spend tens of billions of dollars to support all of internet traffic. If it was all free they'd go out of business.

>> Mark seems to be implying here that mobile networks are eating the cost today as a form of charity. Is that true?

Patently untrue. On the contrary telcos are raking it in hand over fist ever since data usage started shooting up. If anything the massive popularity of WhatsApp, Skype, Viber and explosive growth in India's own home-brewed tech startups is a godend for these telcos. The avg nontech Indian was already getting home-delivered $2 groceries & $5 ladies suits from solopreneurs marketing on WhatsApp. Increased data usage helps telcos.

Instead of riding on the coattails of these massive data services and not looking at a gifthorse in the mouth, instead of strengthening their backbones & support they still employ 90s era CSRs (hundreds thousands of em) who answer every support call with Start Internet Explorer, Click Options, Delete cache..delete history, Click Windows icon on bottom-left of screen & Restart computer....still didn't work? Ok please write to us with your query at support@unfairtel.com and we will escalate this ticket with a turnaround time of 48-72 hours.

Here's a definitive explanation with chart & figures (from telco's own disclosed numbers) by one of the most widely followed financial blogger in India - http://capitalmind.in/2015/04/telecom-companies-are-not-losi...

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