A cheap and economical solution to rural India’s lack of Internet connectivity might lie in the hands of an India-born New Zealand engineer.
Vinayak Lohan, a recent graduate in electrical and computer systems engineering from the University of Auckland, has developed a device that is capable of providing Internet connectivity through FM/AM radio frequencies to the remotest of villages. This device was on display at the IIT-Bombay’s ongoing entrepreneurship summit.
According to Mr Lohan, founder and CEO of OneBeep, the idea had its roots in the fact that on his travels to the interior parts of various eastern states, where he realised that non-connectivity was isolating rural students from modern sources of knowledge.
Speaking at the summit, Mr Lohan said, “Though I migrated to New Zealand, the thought remained with me. So, when I got an opportunity during my studies to come up with a solution to solve the problem, OneBeep was the result.”
The OneBeep team worked on the idea on how radio software could be used to send data over remote areas and how this could be used to revolutionise education. The idea received plaudits in New Zealand and was ranked third and sixth in the world in consecutive years in the Microsoft Imagine Cup, the world’s biggest technology competition. The idea is currently based out of the ICEHOUSE in Auckland, which is in the top 10 business incubators of the world.
Mr Lohan currently wants to promote the idea through the OneBeep firm and hopes it will used to improve India’s education system. “I have spoken to (adviser to the Prime Minister) Sam Pitroda. He congratulated me on the idea and the device and has shown a lot of interest...” he said.