Headline March 04, 2018/ ''' !POOREST *STUDENTS* INTERNET? '''

''' !POOREST *STUDENTS* 

INTERNET? '''

*MY VERY GREAT MOTHER*  : now leading in heavens above, Lady Ashrafat Jan, who never made it to school, because there were none in her village, was just about the most-

Fearless, the most articulate, the most intelligent human, I ever had the privilege to know. With the strength of her indomitable courage and character, she raised six sons and four daughters. All so - at the time -

When Pakistan was *darned poor* and that nobody seemed to have two coins to rub against each other, - Mom, set new standards in imagination, creation and innovation.

Blessed with the intellect of Einstein, Lady Ashrafat Jan would have been too honored to hand over that stage to the ever revered : Ms. Sajida Sultan Abbasi.

STARTING WITH Merium, Rabo, Haider, and Aqsa's great mother : Ms *Sajida Sultan Abbasi*,   -all students who did splendid work and made even - greater contributions in the service and honor of mankind and -

The World Students Society, will have the Honor to be the *Honorary Global President* of The World Students for full one week - before their data is moved to-

The Hall of Fame and Honors on SAM's Museum of History. Student Aqsa Sultan Abbasi, will head the Global Work.

Starting and Starring this very Monday:

Ms. Sajida Sultan Abbasi, is nominated as the *Honorary Global President of The World Students Society*, and the students of the world give her a standing ovation.

And along with Zilli, and Hussain, I research the global puzzle as to how high and deep, the poverty and unemployment, is bound to grow in this era and period of terrible upheavals and uncertainty.

AND THE WORLD'S POOREST PEOPLE - are typically left offline, regardless of where they live,  because they cannot afford a smartphone.

AS FACEBOOK expands its global reach, it's looking to the developing world to increase its two-billion-strong user base. And one very unique pillar of its -

Strategy is a mobile application called Free Basics, a portal that offers access to a limited number of websites at no charge.

Facebook promotes Free Basics as a program for *social good* The company describes Free Basics  as an ''on ramp'' that introduces the Internet to people in the developing world.

The goal, Facebook says in its promotional materials, is to ''bring more people online and help improve their lives.'' The three year old app is available to hundreds of millions of mobile phone users in more than 60 countries.

Bringing people online is a noble goal. About 50 percent of the world's population - mainly people in the developing countries, women in particular - is still not online.

Internet affordability remains staggeringly unequal across the globe :

In Africa in 2015, one gigabyte of data cost more than 17 percent of the average person's income,  while in Europe and the United States, it costs less than 1 percent.

But there is no hard evidence that Free Basics is connecting people who would otherwise be cut off  from the Internet. And the millions of people who do use the free Facebook Portal are experiencing something quiet distinct from the open Internet. :

Free Basics is a closed space where  Facebook picks the content - and profits from users' data along the way - creating what some people call a ''poor internet for poor people''.

The head of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has responded to these criticisms by saying, ''It is always better to have some access than none at all.''

A study by the Alliance for Affordable Internet found that most Free Basics customers had used  Internet before they began using Free Basics.

This and other studies suggest that a large proportion of Free Basics users see the app as a way to get extra free time on Facebook - a way to stay connected with their Facebook friends without using using up their data plans - and not as an ''on ramp'' to the web.

Facebook does not appear to be introducing  people to the open Internet, but it is making it easy for people who can afford smartphones and data plans to spend unlimited time  in the company's closed, for-profit environment.

One reason Free basics may be missing the mark is that a mobile phone app isn't a good way to get  poor people online.

In rural areas, people are often disconnected because their region lacks cables, towers or a signal, rendering a mobile app useless.

And the world's poorest people are typically left offline, regardless of where they live, because they cannot afford a smartphone.

The Honor and Serving of the latest  ''Operational Research'' on Poverty, Technology and Connectivity continues. And with deep gratitude for the researcher and author Ellery Roberts Biddle.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all ''register'' on !WOW! - the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:


''' ALL MOTHERS - !WOW! '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless