Facebook rolled out a new Android app for its social media service on Thursday that uses less data and runs faster in regions with spotty connections. Facebook says that the new version of Facebook for Android uses less data and works well across all network conditions.

The app is designed to help billion people around the world who access Facebook from a range of mobile devices on networks with limited bandwidth - such as 2G networks - meaning they cannot fully enjoy all the functionality found in Facebook for Android.

Facebook Lite is less than 1MB so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook’s core experiences like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications and more.

Starting today, Facebook is rolling out Facebook Lite in countries across Asia, and over the coming weeks Facebook Lite will be available in parts of Latin America, Africa and Europe.

Facebook Lite is part of the world's largest social media network's expansion into emerging markets. Earlier this year, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Internet.org, a platform developed with six technology partners to connect 4.5 billion people with no current access to the Internet.