As Facebook bats for Free Basics, four young engineers bring free Wi-Fi in Indian villages

Even as Facebook's Free Basics platform claims to connect India's villages by giving them free but limited Internet, a grassroots initiative aims to provide unrestricted Internet access for free. Four young IT engineers have started a free Wi-Fi service in a village in their home district Rajgarh in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Inspired by the Indian government's Digital India initiative, the four friends began working on introducing Wi-Fi in Shivnathpura village in August 2015. Without any financial help from the local government or private organisations, they pooled their resources to set up a 80-foot-high tower with a high-frequency device. Since the village faced long power cuts, they also set up an inverter to ensure uninterrupted Internet access. Read more...