Looking at the penetration of the large web services in the developed countries, you see that the markets are saturated. The only way for the beasts to further expand is to gain presence in the developing countries. That is the only way the have to guarantee a sustained growth.
Large web services are nowadays seeking ways to make their way into the “next billion” internet users. Unfortunately, they are not playing by the rules they had when they just started. This is going to create an unbalanced equilibrium for the potential web services in those markets.
They are extending by providing “free internet” to users who otherwise will not be able to access. The problem is that the “free internet” corresponds to a quite limited number of services. The giants pay to the providers of the internet services for the use of that bandwidth. If these users want to cross the border by browsing others services not included in the package, they must pay.
The sad side are the premises being used go like “these people can’t enjoy the same opportunities many of us take for granted, and the entire world is robbed of their ideas and creativity”. The problem is that this is half true.
I wish those people soon realize the trap they are getting into and get the right legislation in place to avoid this. Net neutrality and commitment from their government for a real free internet must be ensured.
Links:
- Facebook’s march to global domination is trampling over net neutrality
- Google’s Next Bid to Lower Mobile Data Costs: Zero Rating
A move in the good direction is what was done in Chile: guarantee net neutrality. Chile, BTW, was the first country in the world to enforce net neutrality by law.