Terming Internet connectivity as a basic human right and a fundamental challenge, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg called for breaking down the barriers of infrastructure, affordability and social barrier (content in local language) in order make internet reach all. He said that two thirds of the world does not have access to Internet primarily because of one of these barriers. While 10-15 per cent of the world does not have the basic network coverage, 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than $3 a day and hence it is not affordable to them. He also said lack of relevant content in local language also acts as a barrier for many. Speaking about 69 per cent Indian's who do not use internet, Zuckerberg, whose Facebook has 108 million users in India, said that their survey suggests that a majority of them do not know why it will be beneficial. He therefore called for providing some basic internet services at an affordable rate to people and through Internet.orgFacebook has been able to connect 3 million people over the last year. Pointing that lower cost of internet may be of some help, he said that it may not be sustainable for the operators do so. Zuckerberg also announced to launch a contest to drive the development of applications and services in local language and said that they are creating a fund of $1 million to help developers built them to serve all kind of people. He is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
