Hyderabad is the fourth-largest city in India, with a population of 9 million in the city itself and more than 15 million in the metropolitan area. It is the capital of the State of Andhra Pradesh, which has 86 million people and a $100 billion-per-year economy. Hyderabad itself accounts for about half of that annual activity, much of it in information technology (the city houses the Indian headquarters of Amazon.com, Google, and Microsoft, for example) and pharmaceuticals. With more than a dozen universities, the city is a leader in education and research. 

Like the rest of the country, however, citizens in the Hyderabad metropolitan area are less connected to the Internet than the city’s strong presence in the information technology industry would suggest. Overall, only about 1.7 million residents (about 19 percent of the population) have regular online access. About half of those with regular access use an Internet-capable phone as their primary access device. Approximately 85 percent of Hyderabad citizens own mobile phones, but most of them are not Internet-capable.

Although the level of Internet access in Hyderabad is greater than the average for India, it lags far behind the United States, where more than 90 percent of the population has regular online access. It also lags behind online access in China, where about 46 percent of the population has regular online access (about 80 percent of that through mobile devices)

Required

1. What are the implications of the low Internet access rates for the citizens of Hyderabad as they become active participants in the world economy over the next five years? Summarize your thoughts in about 100 words.
2. Using your library or your favorite search engine, identify current trends in the growth of Internet-capable phones and other online access devices in India. In a report of about 200 words, evaluate the prospects for significant changes in online access rates over the next few years.
3. Use what you learned about online access technologies in this chapter to outline several alternatives that the government of Hyderabad should consider developing (perhaps in partnership with local information technology companies) that might increase online access rates for its citizens. Prepare a report of about 200 words in which you discuss at least two of these alternatives.