I was just having a chat with a few people in a few Indian villages which got connected to internet in last 1-2 years. A few of my observations:<p>1. They think FB&#x2F;Whatsapp is NOT internet. Internet is meant to be accessed through browser. So we already have an illusioned world.<p>2. &#x27;Internet&#x27; is only meant for the elite.<p>3. Whatsapp&#x2F;FB serve the same purpose that text messages did. They use FB&#x2F;Whatsapp to save on cost of sending sms.<p>4. Their biggest issue is that they don&#x27;t have jobs. Cities are very far away. The ONLY employment opportunity available to young people (including college graduates) is farming!!<p>5. I tried to quiz them on how FB&#x2F;Whatsapp has helped in creating jobs&#x2F;economic activity&#x2F;improving farming. Couldn&#x27;t get a lot of answers. (not saying FB cannot help)<p>6. They can afford to pay for cheap data packs to get access to FB&#x2F;Whatsapp (about $2-4 per month). All the young people in the villages have Whatsapp&#x2F;smart phones. Although this may not stand for the poorest of the poor.<p>It is going to be very hard to decide if banning free basics is going to create more jobs for the poor or not. But I think the basic premise of the regulator&#x27;s decision is giving Indian startups a fair chance. The regulator is only trying to create a fair battle field for startups. The poor need Indian entrepreneurs more than anything else. The regulator is only trying to help entrepreneurship in India.<p>But one thing is clear, FB isn&#x27;t being entirely altruistic (for obvious reasons), but the same cannot be said for Indian regulators. I believe the regulators have ONLY the interest of the people in mind.