Tech Giants Google and Facebook are just two of the big names joining the fight for affordable internet access in the developing world. And to that end, the two companies — in addition to a host of other notable tech outfits (i.e., Yahoo, Intel and Microsoft, amongst others), special interest groups and governments –have formed the Alliance for Affordable Internet, a public / private coalition designed to drive down anti-competitive costs through policy change.
Although cheapest internet rates are under $20 based on the ITU graph above, there is still more room to drive the prices down, the group, spearheaded by the World Wide Web Foundation, aims to begin advocating for cheaper access
in a handful of locations within the developing world by year end, with an eventual target of reducing costs to “less than 5-percent of average monthly income” in up to 12 countries through 2015. You can read more about A4AI’s policies and best
practices right here.
