On Wednesday Facebook Inc launched a mobile phone application that will
give Colombian users free access to a handful of online services.
Facebook hopes the Internet.org project – a charitable, non-profit
initiative - will help more than 4 billion Internet-less people worldwide,
many of whom live in developing countries. Africa and India.
Colombia is the first nation in Latin America to receive the new
Internet.org service, in partnership with local mobile phone provider Tigo,
but the aim is to push the application across the region.
Facebook Inc will offer tools that will allow Colombians to “build their own prosperity”, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said at a
presentation in Bogota. “By giving people these basic tools for free, you're
creating an equal playing field,” Zuckerberg said, referring to entrepreneurs
who will be able to use the free Internet to start or grow a business.
Internet.org will offer free access to more than a dozen services via the Android
operating system, including online encyclopedia Wikipedia, weather websites,
job listings and health information, as well as Facebook's own social network
and messaging service. But users will have to pay data charges when using links
that lead to information on other websites.
Facebook Inc first launched the service in Zambia back in July 2014..
This is the first time the company will offer services beyond its own
website.
The initiative will potentially boost the size of Facebook's
audience, which totals 1.32 billion monthly users. Tigo, a unit of Millicom,
has about 8 million users in Colombia.
For operators, the business case for giving away free Internet access
is less clear, although some operators believe a free taste of the web will
persuade new customers to pay for additional online services.
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edited from Newsroom and VOA
