On Communication Infrastructures
Developing efficient, fast broadband networks is fundamental for economic and social development. Its benefit in facilitating communication and information sharing make it increasingly considered a basic human right that should be fairly and efficiently distributed to everyone.
In terms of free basics, as it turned out that mostly people with net access already were the ones using it- Zuckerberg may have failed to take into account the challenges involved in reaching out to and including their specific target of farmers in rural areas of absolute poverty. Challenges such as illiteracy or the diversity of languages spoken should be acknowledged when attempting to incorporate Facebook towards that specific target. Making sure also, perhaps- that they had electricity installed first, and then also had phones or other devices to access the internet, as well as considering and incorporating if essential any cultural differences, so that they might deliver India’s free Facebook more efficiently with the aims of it being utilized correctly by the intended population.
As was the case with installing NBN across homes in Australia, there are various factors that affect its final utilization, from installation permission (and then the multiple stages of its construction), consumer awareness and convenience-and thats not even including potential technical difficulties along the way, or the on-going advance in technology which means even the current project may potentially be reorganized if a more efficient option is presented (an example of which can be seen in the decision to use TffN instead of Fttp wires to include copper (to reduce costs, recycle copper, and finish the project faster) (Nansen, Wilken, Arnold Gibbs 2012).
Digital literacy is an important consideration here as it influences how and whether new media is utilized at all. Without digital literacy there can’t be a successful communication infrastructure, and without a successful communication infrastructure there can’t be digital literacy, and so steps need to be taken towards this, to ensure especially that those in rural areas have access to information on how to utilize this new media efficiently, as well as a reliable, fast media/communication infrastructure.
The nationwide political and economic factors that have shaped our media and communication environment ‘from above’ involve decisions such as the Government Broadband Advisory group (BAG)’s recommendation to construct a high speed broadband network. It also involved the decision to deny Telstra the right to harness that opportunity within its place as the nation’s dominant telecommunication provider, in fear of it creating an ‘ecological monoculture’ where a lack of competing internet service providers would leave consumers vulnerable to potential exploitation (Wilken, Nansen, Arnold, Kennedy & Gibbs: 2013).
When Zuckerberg provided free Facebook to those in India, he was also ensuring Facebook’s standing by increasing its number of users- and this approach seems to sit against the ideas of equality and net neutrality- where the availability of multiple platforms decreases the user’s vulnerability to exploitation. Zuckerberg’s motivation towards ‘giving everyone a voice,’ by introducing Free Basics to India, seems slightly different to giving everyone his voice (through Facebook’s platform); and his benefit in harnessing populations of Facebook users may be overriding the motivation of it being solely a selfless, charitable deed.
References:
Nansen, B. Wilken, R. Arnold, M. Gibbs, M (2012) Digital Literacies and the National Broadband Network: Competency, Legibility, Context. Media International Australia. Available at: https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5580650-dt-content-rid-29195270_2/courses/2016-HS1-MDA80004-213821/Nansen_Wilken_Arnold_Gibbs_Digital%20literacies%20and%20the%20NBN_MIA_2013.pdf
Shiva, D (2015) Free Basics will take away more than our right to the internet. Available at: https://medium.com/@drvandanashiva/free-basics-will-take-away-more-than-our-right-to-the-internet-4d39422fe122#.bwxphrnx4
Shrivastava, B (2015) Why India’s Net Neutralities Activists Hate Facebook. Bloomberg. Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-30/zuckerberg-s-india-backlash-imperils-vision-for-free-global-web