Bengaluru: Silicon city, as Bengaluru is often referred to, is gearing up for a silent but effective protest against the recent decision of mobile service providers to increase the 3G internet packs.
As part of their protest, users are calling for a boycott of internet services on October 31 in a bid to urge the service providers to slash the rates.
According to an online campaign launched on Facebook which has now spread to all social media platforms including Whatsapp, it has been alleged that from October 1, all the major mobile internet service providers have increased the internet pack rate for 1GB data usage to Rs.200, which was Rs.155 till last month.
Sources said that most of the telecom operators have increased the mobile internet rates from 33% to 100% between June and October in the Karnataka circle.
Users said that in the absence of a local appellate authority they are left with no option other than to create awareness among the users. Mr Harish Rao, who was part of the call for mobile internet boycott day on October 31, said that in today’s era where the internet has become an integral part of our lives, companies are trying to exploit the customers.
“I am not sure who has launched this campaign. But the fact is that in the last one month, the internet pack rate has been increased by some 40%. In Sept., I had recharged 1GB for Rs 151. But this time I am getting just 750 MB for Rs 155.
There was no prior intimation. We are clueless why rates have been revised. With the internet becoming an integral part of our lives, we are left with no option other than this boycott," he explained.
Mr Rao admitted that he was not aware who called for the internet boycott. "But I got a message on Whatsapp and Facebook not to use internet on October 31. As I am also a victim and it is a non-violent protest, I am thinking of not using the internet on October 31," he said.
