Suneet Singh Tuli

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind Ltd., believes the internet holds the key to eliminating illiteracy, and he dreams of a world where web access is as prevalent as mobile phones. He is leading the way by bringing low cost internet to developing countries.

Tuli and his brother Raja founded Datawind, which is working to bring the world’s cheapest computer to countries such as India, China and Nigeria. For this achievement, Forbes magazine recognized Tuli in 2012 as one of the Impact 15, a group of education innovators who are using technology in new ways.

Launched by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, Datawind’s breakthrough technologies solve the bandwidth limitations of cellular networks by accelerating content delivery by factors of 10 to 30 times.  “We’re able to run (the new tablet) on those low-speed networks that are available everywhere and we can afford to buy that bandwidth and sell it at a very low price,” Suneet says.

Datawind’s PocketSurfer and Ubisurfer are already on the market and provide the experience of the desktop internet efficiently to mobile customers. In March 2013, Datawind was among the three largest suppliers of tablets in India. The Tuli brothers’ company is based in London, England and has 150 employees.

"The University of Toronto taught me how to work under pressure, to prepare for the problem solving that is very important in the diverse challenges we face in life."

In India, Tuli says, 80 per cent of families have a mobile phone, but there are still fewer than 10 million Internet-enabled computers in the country. “Just imagine how powerful it would be if the same number of Indian homes had Internet.”

Published Nov. 28, 2013