Facebook Expands Free Mobile Internet Service To India
Facebook amd India's Reliance Communications will soon provide internet services on mobile phones for free, as part of Facebook's Internet.org service. The companies will first offer the app in seven of India's 22 zones and it will then go nationwide in the next 90 days,
The service is run by Internet.org, the non-profit organization esytablished to make basic Internet services available to the two-thirds of the world's population which is not yet connected.
The Facebook app will offer free access via mobile phone to more than 30 pared-down web services, focused on job listings, agricultural information, healthcare and education sites in seven regional languages -- as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services.
Both Reliance and Facebook said they also expected to benefit from the venture over the longer term. India has the world's third-largest population of Internet users.
The service comes to India following similar launches in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Colombia.