Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the largest exhibition for the mobile industry, woven Internet.org for its free online service. “We need the people who did not grow up with the Internet, show why they should use it,” Zuckerberg said on Monday night.
Internet.org is a project initiated by Facebook, which transmits an app selected services to smartphone users, without the need to pay for the traffic. The service is currently running in six countries in South America, Africa and Asia.
Last Internet.org had announced its collaboration with the mobile operator Reliance Communications in India. There, users can now 38 services via their smartphone downloaded free of charge in six Indian states, including of course Facebook, as well as BBC News, AccuWeather, Wikipedia and India Today.
Many partners
The slogan on the website of Internet.org is clear: “The more we connect, the better it is.” The Facebook initiative have a whole range of partners connected. Ericsson, Mediatek, Opera, Samsung, Nokia and Qualcomm
“This is a major step forward in our effort everyone to connect to the Internet and to help people to share their ideas and creativity with the world, “it said in a statement of Internet.org.
In fact, the growth rate seems to weaken the internet. This is obviously not the availability of the Internet. “90 percent of the world’s population already lives within range of a network,” Zuckerberg said. However, only a third of them use it really is.
Those who are not online, could be won over Internet.org with his free offer for it, so the calculus. The Facebook CEO had therefore started its foray five years ago and asked operators to transmit a stripped Facebook with only a small amount of data for free on smartphones. The service was called Facebook Zero.
But on the whole seemed Facebook Zero network operators do not contribute enough. Last year, Facebook opened the offer. Since then, it’s an app, on the other services can be accessed free of charge, including news and weather forecasts. Internet.org is now available in the countries of Zambia, Tanzania, India, Ghana, Kenya and Colombia.
Millicom in Paraguay started
At the end of the mobile network operators would benefit claimed Zuckerberg. There are now some experience. The provider Millicom has launched its brand Tigo Internet.org in Paraguay.
After a few months the data usage had increased by 30 percent, now reported Millicom Manager Mario Zanetti in Barcelona. Many of these users are now migrated to pay tariffs.
Airtel Africa also seems to have no fear of contact with Internet.org. The provider maintains networks in 17 countries. Airtel CEO Christian De Faria described Facebook as a “point of entry for the first contact to the Internet”.
He also observed the increase in data usage after the introduction of the service. The fear that paying users to upgrade to the free service, have not been confirmed. “It does not give cannibalizing” De Faria said.
model is to be profitable
“We want a develop model that is profitable for network operators, “Zuckerberg said. Not least because is Internet telephony, which is already possible with WhatsApp, not part of Internet.org.
But there are critics who Facebook’s project less friendly look. Take the social network from that Internet.org makes available only a strictly regulated section of the Internet.
“Why would Facebook be free, but not Google or a newspaper, “said Vodafone CEO Vitorio Colao in Barcelona. “Who says that Facebook is more valuable than, say, an offer to learn English?”
he principle that even people in less developed countries would get access to the Internet. But it must not only earn Facebook. “That would be like Zuckerberg make philanthropy, but with my money,” Colao said.
net neutrality in danger
Others go even further with its accusations and see the net neutrality especially in poorer regions of the world in danger. After all, who was not on the list of free services, have it difficult to compete against a free-competition.
This might for example startups little like in the countries concerned. In this way prevents Facebook competition, critics say
For many, the Internet could then initially only be Facebook -. And would end especially the social network benefit from it. That the company does not mind also showed the presence of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg manager at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. In the future, “people go into a mobile phone shop and say, I want Facebook, ‘” she said.
The resistance of the mobile operators and their reluctance to expand of mobile networks in poorer regions for economic reasons pushing Internet companies become creative solutions to attract more people for their services. Google is experimenting with hot air balloons that spark the Internet towards the floor.
Experiments with drones
Others try it with a satellite system that brings Internet in remote areas. Google and Facebook have also bought drone manufacturers to test this possibility. This could mean the end as a threat to network operators: If you do not play along, we make it ourselves
The distrust of network operators Internet providers like. Facebook and Google opposite seems not entirely unfounded. Free messaging services like WhatsApp have withdrawn from the mobile phone industry billions.
On Monday, Google confirmed in Barcelona again its plans to offer mobile services themselves. The offer will initially launch in the US. According to reports, Google already negotiated with the smaller carriers Sprint and T-Mobile to use their networks can.
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