Technoglitch
Core Member
An internet connection is still not that common in India, so when Mark Zuckerberg came to the country with the proposal for Internet for all, about a year ago, Osama Manzar, director of India’s Digital Empowerment Foundation, was absolutely giddy.
But the things turned sour when Manzar actually tried the Facebook’s limited free Internet service.The app, that is commonly known as Free Basics, is a version of Facebook that has some extra features like weather reports and job listings.
“I feel betrayed — not only betrayed but upset and angry,” Manzar said. “He said we’re going to solve the problem with access and bandwidth. But Facebook is not the Internet.”
“It’s a very important test case for what will be India’s network neutrality regime,” said Sunil Abraham of the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore. “If Facebook manages to get another half a billion users in India, that’s a valuable set of eyeballs to sell to a political party or corporation,” he added.
A week after this, Free Basics was banned in Egypt with little explanation, which prompted a discussion that other markets may follow suit. An estimated 15 million people are now using Free Basics in 37 countries, including 1 million that are located in India.
India and Egypt say NO to 'Free Basics' internet from Facebook
But the things turned sour when Manzar actually tried the Facebook’s limited free Internet service.The app, that is commonly known as Free Basics, is a version of Facebook that has some extra features like weather reports and job listings.
“I feel betrayed — not only betrayed but upset and angry,” Manzar said. “He said we’re going to solve the problem with access and bandwidth. But Facebook is not the Internet.”
“It’s a very important test case for what will be India’s network neutrality regime,” said Sunil Abraham of the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore. “If Facebook manages to get another half a billion users in India, that’s a valuable set of eyeballs to sell to a political party or corporation,” he added.
A week after this, Free Basics was banned in Egypt with little explanation, which prompted a discussion that other markets may follow suit. An estimated 15 million people are now using Free Basics in 37 countries, including 1 million that are located in India.
India and Egypt say NO to 'Free Basics' internet from Facebook
