The Hindu Business Line : `Mobile users to drive Net growth'

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Bangalore Feb. 20 The rapidly growing mobile user base in developing countries such as India and China, and not personal computers, will drive the growth of the worldwide web in future, said Mr Vinton G. Cerf, Vice-President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google.

Considered among the founding fathers of the Internet, Mr Cerf said though the user base has increased dramatically to over 1.1 billion in the past decade from 50 million in 1997, only one-sixth of the world population has access to the Net.

"You will get those other 5.5 billion people only when affordability increases and the cost of communication goes down," he said.

Addressing the media on the `Future of the Internet', Mr Cerf who joined Google in 2005 said, "The mobile phone has become an important factor in the Internet revolution". Newer offerings by handset makers and operators such as the payment and navigation system amidst declining tariffs would bring in new users to the Internet, he added.

Predicting that users could anticipate new Internet applications on mobiles, Mr Cerf felt that developers would have to come up with innovative interfaces to face up to the challenge of small screen interface.

In India, where only 3.5 per cent of the population (40 million out of a total of 1.1 billion) has access to the Net, Mr Cerf opined that more locally relevant information on the Net would be the key to increasing Internet penetration.

Mr Cerf, who is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for Google, said that his company was interested in taking advantage of bright engineers in India to innovate technologies and widen its range of services. "Google's focus in India is on language, culture, content, technologies and delivery of new business models," he said.

Further, Mr Cerf said the new-generation Indian engineers and researchers need not go to the US in search of their dreams as a dramatically evolved R&D infrastructure back home offered them ample opportunities.

Amazed at the evolution of R&D capability and infrastructure here, Mr Cerf said, "India has a major opportunity to contribute".

Replying to a query, Mr Prasad Ram, Centre Head and Engineering Director, Google India R&D, said that the company was in talks with government agencies here to blur aerial images of sensitive sites in its satellite photo service Google Earth, as sought by the Indian government.

It may be recalled that India had expressed concern over images of its defence and scientific establishments that provided a detailed view, in Google Earth. "We worked with Governments (in other parts of the world) and there haven't been situations where we are not able to come to a resolution to meet whatever security and other concerns the Government may have," Mr Ram said.

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