One fine day last month, Facebook users were urged to send a message to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), saying that they supported ‘Free Basics’. It turned out that ‘Free Basics’ was Internet.org with a new name. The debate around Internet.org continues, though. Is its violation of net neutrality important, or does it truly help those with no access to the Internet? Is its behaviour of telling you through fake notifications that your friends support Free Basics and hence you should too, a precedent for monopolistic crazy that’s headed our way? And is it superfluous for us to debate this in our armchairs, when we could be listening to the opinions of users who are being targeted by Free Basics?
Khabar Lahariya, an all-women newspaper that is sold across 800 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, asked around. Here are two people they interviewed in Khurhand village, Mahua block, UP –Smriti Shukla [right], an MA first year student, and Sangeeta [left], a computer science teacher:
For those who want to read rather than watch: “Kyunki Facebook se hamaara kuchh ho nahi sakta, jitna Google na hoga saath mein. Google se sahi jaankaari milti hain humko. Youtube bhi sahi, kyunki Google se jis jaankari cheez … video sahi dekh sakte hain use Youtube pe. Woh sabhi free nahin hain.”
To paraphrase: Facebook isn’t as useful to us as Google is. Google gives us useful information. So does Youtube. But Google and Youtube won’t be free.
Want to hear more? Here’s a short audio clip of a discussion among the following Khabar Lahariya editors about Free Basics: Rizwana Tabssum, (Bureau Chief, Varanasi) Lakshmi (Bureau Chief, Lucknow) and Kavita, Editor, Khabar Lahariya.
A summary of their conversation: On the one hand, they argue that, for people who have never used the Internet or Facebook, this could be a good way to start – and that Facebook could possibly help people find jobs and contact hospitals in emergencies. But on the other hand, they wonder why the government has linked itself only with Facebook, and has thereby limited rural India’s experience of the Internet so severely. Agricultural labourers should be able to research information that could help their work, they argue, and just weather information on Facebook may not be enough.
And that’s the real lowdown.
Khabar Lahariya originally posted the interview video on Twitter and the audio clip on Youtube.
January 6, 2016 at 6:20 pm
Currently, any form of internet connection requires some variety of a cost : a subscription to broadband or say a data plan by the cell service provider.
Thus, it is not free.
Free Basics offers some free websites. It doesn’t offer others like Google or YouTube in this free package.
If these latter are required, then, the user must subscribe to some broadband service or a data card plan. And pay for that.
My Q is : can a person using Free Basics say through Reliance, *also subscribe* to a broadband plan from say, BSNL,Idea,VodaPhone, Airtel etc ?
In other words, if a user has the money and the inclination he or she may subscribe to some service *exactly as people are doing now*. If not, he or she sticks with Free Basics which would be a restricted bouquet of sites just like free TV Channels.
What my Q translates to is, can a user be *prohibited* from using a service of *another* ISP which is *not free* ? Such a prohibition may attract the penalties of MRTP too.
It also means, if Reliance goes in for Free Basics, can other ISPs like BSNL,Airtel etc *continue exactly* as they are now. Viz. have nothing at all to do with Free Basics ?
If yes, and if a user is free to choose any number of broadband services – exactly like now – then, why would Free Basics be bad for India ?
To give a rough analogy, there’s a Temple in Dharmasthala which sometimes feeds nearly 100,000 people a pretty good lunch. It is nutritious and has a few select items. People who want to eat there are welcome. They can eat as many times as they want to.
But, if the same people want to try out some dishes that are *not* served there, then, they are perfectly free to visit some restaurant and pay for these dishes.
Is Free Basics too just like that. If yes, it appears to do no harm.
If not, then we need to be guarded about it.
Tks & Rgs