Free mobile internet service launched by Facebook in India
The Facebook's Internet.org service app will initially be available in seven of India's 22 regions, or zones before going nationwide in the next 90 days
• This is a Facebook-led initiative to make basic Internet services available to the two-thirds of the world's population which is not yet connected
• The app, aimed at low income and rural users, will offer free access via mobile phone to more than 30 pared-down web services
MUMBAI, India - Facebook Tuesday started a new free basic Internet services on mobile phones in India, the first country in the region to get the service, which is being provided in tie-up with Reliance Communications (RCOM).
The Facebook's Internet.org service app will initially be available in seven of India's 22 regions, or zones before going nationwide in the next 90 days, Gurdeep Singh, chief executive of Reliance's consumer business told reporters.
"Through this partnership with Facebook, we aim to increase internet inclusion and encourage more Indians to go online. This partnership will not only accelerate internet penetration In India, it will also open new socioeconomic opportunities to users in fields like education, information and commerce," said Singh.
This is a Facebook-led initiative to make basic Internet services available to the two-thirds of the world's population which is not yet connected. It is being pushed by Internet.org, a non-profit organisation, which is backed by Ericsson , Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm and Opera Software among others.
The app, aimed at low income and rural users, 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.
It will be available to all of Reliance's 106.3 million subscribers who have handsets capable of handling internet traffic. Around 70 per cent of RCOM customers who have such phones and are now off line, are expected to benefit from this service.
Singh declined to comment on who will bear the cost of carrying this data traffic for free.
In the first phase this service has gone live in seven circles of RCOM which include Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chennai and Kerala.
With this service all of RCOM's customers will access internet by using both the 2G and 3G enabled feature phones and Smartphones. At the moment, Android apps can access this service.
"This is a big step forward in our efforts to connect every one in India to the internet and help people discover new tools and information that can create more jobs and opportunities," said Chris Daniels, vice president of Internet.org at Facebook.
Mobile phones sales have been booming in India, the world's second-biggest mobile market, with smartphone sales surging 90% in the October-December quarter. But less than 20% of the country's population can access the Internet -- leaving over a billion people offline.
"As many as a quarter of the world's offline population is in India. Moreover, when people get onto the Internet, they generate ideas, they can access job opportunities, which will help not only India, but the world at large," said Chris Daniels, vice-president, products for Internet. org, in an interview with the Economic Times business daily.
He clarified that it is not an exclusive relationship with Reliance Communications. "We can launch with other operators as well going forward. We will now offer access to more than three dozen services ranging from news, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports, communication, and local government information.," he stated.
Facebook said it had worked with Reliance Communications since last October to address barriers to connectivity.
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, and could take the number two spot this year.
"It gives us a great lever in terms of our proposition differentiation at the point of sale ... which will help us accelerate our acquisition journey of good quality, sticky customers," Singh said.
Singh said the company has beefed up infrastructure to meet the anticipated increase in data traffic, but did not give details on the amount it had spent.
"We address the affordability of data by having beneficial services and then we'll make it scalable for our partners so that once these users want to use more, they just buy the regular (data) plan," Markku Makelainen, Facebook's director of Global Operator Partnerships, told Reuters.
"One of our goals is to have a profitable partnership."
Facebook has partnered with more than 150 wireless providers over the past four years to offer free or discounted access to its social network, but the new Internet.org app is the first time the company has added services beyond its own website.
The service comes to India following similar launches in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Colombia.
Business Sun Wednesday 11th February, 2015
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