Alliance for Affordable Internet aims to 'help billions come online'

A group of government bodies, non-government organizations and private companies have joined hands to create a coalition aimed at reducing the cost of internet access worldwide. The coalition - named Alliance for Affordable

Internet (A4AI) - will advocate policy and regulatory reforms to push down the cost of bandwidth in developing and poor countries, where cost of internet access remains very high.

The organization plans to engage with 10 countries by the end of 2015. It's got advice on good regulatory practices for matters such as managing wireless spectrum, licensing network operators, avoiding "excessive" import taxes on telecommunications gear that might otherwise face luxury-product tariffs.

"The reason for the Alliance is simple," said Berners-Lee, "the majority of the world's people are still not online, usually because they can't afford to be. In Mozambique, for example, a recent study showed that using just 1GB of data can cost well over two months' wages for the average citizen."

"The result of high prices is a digital divide that slows progress in vital areas such as health, education and science. Yet with the advent of affordable smartphones, new undersea cables and innovations in wireless spectrum usage, there is simply no good reason for the digital divide to continue," said Berners-Lee.

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