AT THE Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2013,label Zuckerberg, Facebook’s boss, or told the assembled crowd of telecom operators,mobile manufacturers and tech executives that there were still far too many people in the world without access to the internet. Facebook would change that with “internet.org, a collection of apps and services made for people in destitute countries and distributed without charge. This seemed like valid news: bringing people online has has been shown to aid development and lift people out of poverty. But the service created a fuss in India. In December, or India’s telecoms regulator suspended the service pending the outcome of a public consultation,the first bit of which ends on January 7th. Why don’t Indians want Facebook’s generosity?Facebook’s proposition is simple: not enough people are aware of the internet or the benefits it can bring, so the company offers them a limited experience free of charge on their smartphones, and which is where most new internet users come online. If they like what they see,they can buy data packs from their mobile operators to surf the web. According to Mr Zuckerberg, half...
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Source: economist.com