GBG Case Study

Android provides backbone for Club Internet’s far-reaching initiative to get people online

About Club Internet

• clubinternet.co • HQ Lahore • Digital literacy platform to onboard the 4.3 billion people who are not connected to the Internet • 7 employees • Launched September 2013

Club Internet is a visionary initiative dedicated to helping everyone benefit from the Internet. The enterprise started in Pakistan, and was born out of the realization that 4.3 billion people worldwide are unconnected. Although initiatives like Google’s Project Loon are helping, the founders of Club Internet felt that what was lacking in unconnected people was not only access to the Internet but also a “mental model”. For instance, rather than explain Gmail to a farmer in Pakistan, Club Internet demonstrates how Google Search gives the weather forecast. Early on, Club Internet’s founders understood that the best way to seriously expand digital literacy was to partner with large telecoms companies. It’s all about taking advantage of their huge reach to encourage users to download the localized Club Internet app, which uses video simulations of Google product experiences to educate people. The founders of Club Internet are happy to say the enterprise wouldn’t exist without Google. Google Search and Gmail are its gateway apps to reaching the unconnected. Android is vital to Club Internet’s future. It’s the most rapidly expanding technology at the moment, and is growing day by day. When the new Android One smartphone is launched, it will cost US$100, which everyone in India and Pakistan can afford. An increasing number of people will access the Internet as a result. This is hugely significant for Club Internet.

“The Internet is the ultimate enabler.” — Sophia Pervez, Co-Founder, Club Internet Already, Club Internet has partnered with Mobilink, one of the largest telecoms companies in Pakistan. Mobilink hosted a tutorial on how to use Google on their platform. In two weeks there were 8,000 views and an impressive 55 percent of viewers opted into using the Club Internet. The next step, according to co-founder Sophia Pervez, is “to become a huge Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, working with organizations like Unicef and partnering with telcos worldwide to train teachers, help farmers and make change. Because, as we say, the Internet is the ultimate enabler.”

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