Facebook introduced an app on Thursday that will give mobile phone subscribers in Zambia access to a set of free basic mobile data services—and Facebook.
It’s not just owning a smartphone that’s expensive — it’s the data plan.
Facebook introduced an app today that will give mobile users in Zambia free, limited access to the internet.
The
app is part of
Facebook’s collaborative
Internet.org initiative, which
aims to bring internet access to the two out of three people worldwide
who aren’t already online.
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Users
in the African nation, who are Airtel subscribers, will get
free mobile
access to a slew of basic services, including AccuWeather, Google,
Wikipedia, and of course, Facebook, without incurring any data charges.
“We
hope to bring more people online and help them discover valuable
services they might not have otherwise.” the Facebook announcement said.
According
to the social network, 85 percent of the world’s population lives in
areas with existing cellular coverage, meaning the lack of
infrastructure isn’t a barrier to getting new users online.
At the
Mobile World Conference this past February, Zuckerberg said the biggest
barrier to getting people online is “the question of why you would want
to spend your money.”
“You have never had access to the Internet so
you don’t even know why you would want it,” he said. ” In the US we have
911 to get basic services. Similarly, we want to create a basic dial
tone for the Internet. Basic messaging, basic Web information, basic
social networking.”
