Internet News

Alliance for Affordable Internet -a coalition of many government bodies, NGOs and private players- has been set up aimed at reducing cost of internet access worldwide. Backed by WWW Foundation and Google as one of the sponsors, it will help prices to fall below 5% of monthly income worldwide, which is currently 30.1% of average monthly income in developing countries.

With internet access becoming more and more affordable, the number of social media users is expected to reach 91 million (an overall growth of 17% since June-2013) in urban India by December 2013. Reports suggest that about 19.8 million users access social networks through their mobile phones.

As per Avendus Capital, there are nearly 50% mobile-only internet users, possibly the highest worldwide compared to 20-25 % across developed countries. While mobile advertising market is estimated to reach Rs 2,800 crore by 2016 from Rs 180 crore presently, the paid app market is expected to grow from Rs 150 crore in 2012 to Rs 2,000 crore by 2016.

A study by transport logistics solutions provider Radiant Info Systems has put Karnataka on top among southern states regarding booking travel tickets online. The daily sale of online tickets in Karnataka numbered 25,000 and 30,000 in January and July respectively. Online bus and railway ticketing across the country grew by 185% and 43% between January and July respectively.

According to the data released by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Mumbai has 12 million internet users, which is highest in India, followed by Delhi(8.1 million) and Hyderabad(4.7 million). In terms of year-on-year increment in internet users since 2012, Kolkata(with 47% growth rate) is on top followed by Mumbai (45%). Ahmedabad is on bottom with 26% growth rate.

Google launched its 'Helping women get online' mission aimed at bringing 50-miilion Indian women online for the first time, with the launch of a website on Thursday. The website describes computer and internet basics and highlights internet benefits, while a toll-free hotline is also available for more information. Google has partnered with HUL, Axis Bank and Intel for the campaign.

In its annual financial report, Mozilla has maintained that the organization's revenue from Google increased from $139 million (85% of total revenue) in 2011 to about $280 million (i.e. 90% of total revenue) in 2012, leading to its increased dependency on Google. As a matter of relief to Mozilla, its expenses have not grown as quickly as its revenue.

Telecom operator Reliance Communications has increased 3G mobile internet rates by 26%. The company has increased the cost of 1GB pack to Rs156 from Rs123 and the Rs123 mobile internet pack will now offer only 400MB. Also, for the internet pack of Rs 246, the company has reduced usage limit from 2GB to 1.5GB.

Internet giant Google has raised concerns about consistent demands by governments and law enforcement agencies across the world to remove content that is critical of them. Google received 3,846 government requests between January and June this year to remove 24,737 pieces of content. Also, the company regularly receives requests from all around the world to hand over user data.

The number of mobile internet users is going to reach 155 million in India by the end of March 2014, and 185 million by June 2014, maintaining a quarter-on-quarter growth of 20 per cent, a report by IAMAI and IMRB International said. At the end of December 2013, the number of mobile internet users stood at 130 million.