Facebook is asking you to act now and save the "free" Internet; but so are activists!

December 17, 2015

Dec 17: Many of us woke up today to notifications on our Facebook timeline where our friends showed their support for the free internet. In India, free means a lot.

fbSo if Facebook and activists both expect you to act to save the free Internet, who do you trust? Although the world also has two distinct meanings for the word free, in India both meanings matter a lot. In 1947, we got to know one side of the word free! Free as in freedom. The open source movement thrives on this idea of freedom, which emphasises on the liberty to make a choice. Even if it may be convoluted, or take an extra while to accomplish a simple task; it is, nonetheless, a privilege to be able to decide for oneself.

On a similar front, free has another meaning. Where free comes with no charge. It"s the best thing to happen during the year end. Obviously nothing is every given for free! It"s usually a bundle. For instance, you buy a shirt and get another free. What it usually comes down to is you get 2 shirts for the price of one. Or one shirt at half the price. In effect, you paid for one shirt, but end up getting two.

Clearly free is the most exciting word we can hear of. It excites us, and we look forward to free around any deal we may get.

So essentially, what is it with Faceb

ook that it has managed to put off so many people and get them to vociferously oppose its Free Basic package.

It"s interesting how the debate to net neutrality began with activists setting up a website (savetheinternet.in). And now Facebook is taking the same route, but countering the Net Neutrality camp by influencing its user base to send emails to Trai that renders their support for Free Basics in India.

The user clicking on the Send Email button is showing support for Digital Equality, which is a good term for free as in free of charge. But that free, hinders the basic aspect of freedom, of choice, that many more want to defend with all might!

The email that is drafted by Facebook on your behalf reads:

To the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, I support digital equality for India. Free Basics provides free access to essential Internet services, such as communication, education, healthcare, employment, farming information and more. It helps those who can"t afford to pay for data, or who need a little help with getting started online. And it"s open to all people, developers and mobile networks. With 1 billion Indian people not yet connected, shutting down Free Basics would hurt our country"s most vulnerable people. I support Free Basics and digital equality for India. Thank you.

Over the series of meetings that Mark Zuckerberg has had with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his subsequent interest in India, there has been some key messages that have stood out. And that is the need to get more Indians on the Internet. In reality, Facebook. We"ve seen Sundar Pichai also take an active interest to push for Wi-Fi, which is good. But we believe, there"s much more that needs to be done!

You"d probably agree, there"s a strong business case to focus on India. Over the years, our sheer population has moved from being a liability to being our greatest asset. For we"ve created a huge internet hungry audience. The best thing for companies such as Google and Facebook.

However, there"s a key difference in the approach taken by Google and Facebook. While Google is enabling free internet through Wi-Fi networks, Facebook is riding on a fine line, between what is noble and what isn"t. Free internet would eventually come at a price. And that price is freedom itself. Strong activists who have been fighting for net neutrality, or the objective independence of data packets we access online have vehemently opposed Facebook"s Free Basics plan. Some of these individuals include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the modern web.

In addition, Google is also working towards speeding up the mobile internet experience by delivering lighter, leaner web pages, which is quite similar to Opera Turbo that enabled closer delivery of web content, through more optimised and compressed data packets.

Update: In response to this story, Facebook has issued an official statement, attributed to its spokesperson: “Hundreds of millions of people in India use the Internet every day and understand the benefits it can bring. This campaign gives people the opportunity to support digital equality in India. It lets people speak in support of the one billion people in India who remain unconnected, and lets them participate in the public debate that is being held by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on differential pricing for data services. And it gives them the opportunity to support Free Basics, which is proven to bring more people online and accelerate full internet adoption.”

Effectively, you are expected to take a stand. Which side of free are you on? If you"re undecided, then the basic rule may help – there"s nothing like a free beer!

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Agencies
March 10,2020

New Delhi, Mar 10: Crisis-hit Yes Bank on Tuesday said that it has enabled inward IMPS and NEFT services.

The move allows people to send money from other bank accounts to their Yes Bank account through IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) mode.

In a tweet, the bank also said that Yes Bank customers can pay their credit card dues and loan obligations from other bank accounts.

"Inward IMPS/NEFT services have now been enabled. You can make payments towards YES BANK Credit Card dues and loan obligations from other bank accounts. Thank you for your co-operation. @RBIA @FinMinIndia," said tweet.

Last week Yes Bank was placed under moratorium and a withdrawal cap of Rs 50,000 was imposed till April 3.

The administrator of Yes Bank, Prashant Kumar and Rajnish Kumar, the Chairman of the State Bank of India are hopeful that moratorium would be lifted within a week.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) draft reconstruction scheme for the crisis-hit private lender, the SBI will take up 49 per cent in the bank by investing Rs 2,450 crore.

The new board of directors will stand constituted from the appointed date. It will comprise a CEO and MD, non-executive chairman and non-executive directors. The SBI will have nominee directors appointed on the board of the reconstructed bank.

The RBI may appoint additional directors to the board, who shall continue in office for one year, or until an alternate board is constituted by Yes Bank.

The SBI will not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Facebook on Monday launched a new consumer marketing campaign in India titled 'More Together'. India is the first country in the Asia Pacific region where such a campaign is being rolled out.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

"India is at the heart of Facebook and one of our focus areas this year is to tell the exciting story of a service that is deeply embedded in the fabric of India," said Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India.

The campaign would have multiple campaigns over the next few weeks in eight languages and the one will be set in the context of Holi.

Facebook in 2019 introduced a new company logo to further distinguish the company from the Facebook app.

The company recently announced the appointment of Avinash Pant as the Marketing Director for India operations, to drive the consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps.

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Agencies
May 27,2020

Due to impacts of COVID-19, shipments of total mobile phones are forecast to decline 14.6% in 2020, while smartphone shipments will achieve a slightly slower decline of 13.7 % year over year to total 1.3 billion units this year, according to a Gartner forecast on Tuesday.

"While users have increased the use of their mobile phones to communicate with colleagues, work partners, friends and families during lockdowns, reduced disposable income will result in fewer consumers upgrading their phones," Ranjit Atwal, Senior Research Director at Gartner, said in a statement.

"As a result, phone lifetimes will extend from 2.5 years in 2018 to 2.7 years in 2020," said Atwal.

In 2020, affordable 5G phones were expected to be the catalyst to increase phone replacements, but now it is unlikely to be the case.

5G phones are now forecast to represent only 11% of total mobile phone shipments in 2020.

"The delayed delivery of some 5G flagship phones is an ongoing issue," said Annette Zimmermann, Research Vice President at Gartner.

"Moreover, the lack of 5G geographical coverage along with the increasing cost of the 5G phone contract will impact the choice of a 5G phone."

Overall, spending on 5G phones will be impacted in most regions apart from China, where continued investment in 5G infrastructure is expected, allowing providers in China to effectively market 5G phones.

The combined global shipments PCs, tablets and mobile phones are on pace to decline 13.6% in 2020, according to the forecast.

PC shipments are expected to decline 10.5% this year. Shipments of notebooks, tablets and Chromebooks are forecast to decline slower than the PC market overall in 2020.

"The forecasted decline in the PC market in particular could have been much worse," said Atwal.

"However, government lockdowns due to COVID-19 forced businesses and schools to enable millions of people to work from home and increase spending on new notebooks, Chromebooks and tablets for those workers. Education and government establishments also increased spending on those devices to facilitate e-learning."

Gartner said that 48 per cent of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 30 % pre-pandemic.

Overall, the work from home trend will make IT departments shift to more notebooks, tablets and Chrome devices for work.

"This trend combined with businesses required to create flexible business continuity plans will make business notebooks displace desk based PCs through 2021 and 2022," said Atwal.

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