Difference between revisions of "BasicInternet:FAQ"

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'''Q: How can I help?'''
 
'''Q: How can I help?'''
 
: '''A:'''  Join us by
 
: '''A:'''  Join us by
* promoting '''Connect the Unconnected'''
+
::- promoting '''Connect the Unconnected'''
* support '''Access to Villages'''
+
::- support '''Access to Villages'''
* contribute to '''Village Information Spots'''
+
::- contribute to '''Village Information Spots'''
* add your '''Content for Empowerment and Sustainability'''
+
::- add your '''Content for Empowerment and Sustainability'''
* provide '''Your Ideas'''
+
::- provide '''Your Ideas'''
* contribute with '''Your Work'''
+
::- contribute with '''Your Work'''
 
: Through cooperation and community empowerment we can facilitate Connecting the Unconnected. [https://www.basicinternet.info/connect-the-unconnected Join now and get involved!]
 
: Through cooperation and community empowerment we can facilitate Connecting the Unconnected. [https://www.basicinternet.info/connect-the-unconnected Join now and get involved!]

Revision as of 09:45, 23 May 2019

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Join now and get involved!

In order to Connect the Unconnected people of the World, the Basic Internet Foundation established the concept Internet Lite for All, the free access to information for everyone:

  • the Foundation supports the Fremium model for Internet access, with free access to text, pictures and local video, and paid access to broadband and streaming services;
  • the Foundation works for optimised content delivery on capacity-limited networks through low cost infrastructure, addressing areas with low admission and/or no Internet coverage.
  • the Foundation assists organisations and companies to adapt and disseminate information to everyone, and thus empower underprivileged societies;
  • the Foundation performs research and development to achieve free access to information as part of sustainable infrastructures.
This FAQ will address questions related to both societal impact, market, business and technology.

Societal Impact

Q: Why does the Foundation address digital access?

A: Digital access is a human right. However, UN data shows that of the world's 7 billion people, 4.2 billion are still without regular Internet access. Foundation’s vision is to provide free Internet access to basic information for everyone on the globe, by creating and promoting the “Information-Internet” (InfoInternet). The InfoInternet is “just information, nothing else”, or in technology terms, the focus on (compressed) text and pictures.
We believe that addressing the digital access will help tackle wider global social issues, support business and economic growth, and close the inequalities gaps.

Q: What is the relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030)

A: Basic Internet Foundation consists of advisors, and partners having an excellent expertise in the fields of digital access, content management, core competence in health and education for SDG 3 and 4, and understand the business of digital access. Through its vision and projects, the Foundation promotes the digital access and the need for free access as building blocks to achieve SDG 3 and 4.

Q: What type of digital inequalities are we facing in the society?

A: We live in societies in which inequality is ignored in education, science, business, economy, and in the media. As Internet technologies are rapidly evolving and new digital divides emerge, we must tackle socio-cultural differences, focus on technological infrastructure, Internet skills, literacies and digital media usage. From our own research in the field, we have identified that core issues and digital inequality challenges: access to information and Internet, skills (to be able to use information and Internet), privacy and trust, and motivation of the use. Digital inclusion is about overcoming these challenges and working on a solid structured programmes and projects.

Q: What is the impact of digital inclusion?

A: The impact of digital inclusion is overcoming the challenges in access, skills, security and trust, and motivation. Implementing digital inclusion by provisioning of free basic Internet and customised content for education and health, thus creating the basis for growing business and social inclusion. With the current societal changes that are perceived in developing economies, we aim at bringing digital inclusion and thus social and financial inclusion to people with low income through collaboration between the Basic Internet Foundation and partners. Through this collaboration we will gain social and economic development, boost the economic growth and contribute to lessening the present digital divide and achieving the gender equality. The government, Ministries, and its partners already do a lot to help promote digital inclusion; however this is not enough and having the impact it needs to.

More question? Please contact us through our Web or Join us and get involved!


Market

Q: Which market do you address?

A: We address the people who don’t have mobile broadband network coverage, or don’t have the ability to pay for the access. Building spot-wise Information access is less costly than building mobile broadband service, and is seen as the entry point for digital literacy.

Q: What is your relation to mobile operators and others providing access?

A: Our focus is on people who are left-aside by the traditional, revenue-oriented roll-out. By focussing on hot-spots with Wifi access, rather than addressing coverage

Q: x?

A:

Q: What to you think about Facebook and Free Basics?

A:

More question? Please contact us through our Web or Join us and get involved!

Business

Q: How do you earn money?

A:

Q: x?

A:

Q: x?

A:

Q: x?

A:

More question? Please contact us through our Web or Join us and get involved!

Technology

Q: How does Opera, Opera Turbo/Opera Mini work?

A: We have implemented a proxy separating the traffic between “InfoInternet” and “Internet”. . Weared that you got “Opera” without Turbo to work, sure you did not had the voucher enabled? We tried to fix the “Opera Mini” error on Android, but Opera Mini still opens a new tab. - If you have an idea how to describe the failure, please let me know. it is difficult to get the message across to the Chinese developers.

Q: Regarding the vouchers? Yes, we have implemented a system such that you can “order” any kind of time and capacity, e.g. 1 day with 100 MByte, 1 hour free, …. The system is up and running, and Iñaki can provide you with access to order vouchers. (we have used the vouchers both in DRC and in the hospitals here around) We don’t have voucher restrictions to “whitelisting”, we could not see a business reason for that.

Q: Whitelisting?

A: Whitelisting is used for “free access” to basic information. Whitelisting is per IP domain (“sub-network”), which means that you can adopt to the wishes of your customer. Example: we can have free access to “Mærsk” for one customer, and to “Red Hat” on other sub-networks. Whitelisting is only active in “Opera Mini” mode - not when vouchers are used.

Q: Restrictions on streaming elements?

A: What you indicate is exactly the goal of “BasicInternet”. To build a proxy which translates all “dynamic Web pages” into “Information Internet”, being compressed text and pictures as information bearer. I’m travelling to India in some 10 days to discuss with operators, Tata and government representatives the idea of such a proxy. - As you know, operators (me included) tried WAP long time ago, but failed. What we see now is the responsive design, adopting to the browser.

Thus, for a proxy such as Opera Mini, would be the answer, and might come through http2 standardisation as server-side compression. The challenge is encryption, as any https: access is “blind” for the proxy, and would need deep packet inspection to filter out dynamic elements. This is a cumbersome business, and the reason why we favour the “proxy” solution. By the way, check the criteria which Facebook has put out for “Free Basics” with respect to html5 elements. Very interesting, except that all data end up with Facebook. x?


More question? Please contact us through our Web or Join us and get involved!

On the Foundation

Q: Who runs the Basic Internet Foundation?

A: The Basic Internet Foundation is run by a team of experts, with Prof. Josef Noll as Secretary General and his team of experts. See more in About on BasicInternet.info. The main expertise is gathered through the international collaboration with partners.

Q: Where is the Foundation based?

A: The headquarter is located at Kjeller, Norway, just outside of Oslo. Kjeller has an impressive history related to the Internet and Telecoms:
  • Internet (Arpanet) reached Europe in 1973, and the first node was at Kjeller
  • Pål Spilling and Yngvar Lundh were
  • The GSM standard was developed from around 1985 under guidance of Televerkets Forskningsinstitutt, which became later Telenor Research, at Kjeller
  • Opera Software (with the Opera Mini browser) by Jon von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy, two Telenor Fellows, started in 1993 and became a company in 1995
  • The Basic Internet Foundation was founded in 2014


Q: Who funds the Basic Internet Foundation?

A: The Basic Internet Foundation is funded by support from people, organisations, and project activities. Organisational support is provided by University of Oslo and Partners. Project activities are a.o. the Digital Inclusion project in Tanzania and Mali, the Caritas Kinderdorf.


More question? Please contact us through our Web or Join us and get involved!

Involvement and Help

Q: How can I help?

A: Join us by
- promoting Connect the Unconnected
- support Access to Villages
- contribute to Village Information Spots
- add your Content for Empowerment and Sustainability
- provide Your Ideas
- contribute with Your Work
Through cooperation and community empowerment we can facilitate Connecting the Unconnected. Join now and get involved!