Facebook marks this week as the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the Internet.org app in its first country, Zambia.
During this past 12 months, Facebook have worked closely with more than a dozen mobile operators across 17 countries to give people access to relevant basic internet services without data charges, and now Internet.org is available to more than a billion people.
This is what Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg said few months back about Net neutrality, “We fully support net neutrality. We want to keep the internet open. Net neutrality ensures network operators don’t discriminate by limiting access to services you want to use. It’s an essential part of the open internet, and we are fully committed to it. Internet.org doesn’t block or throttle any other services or create fast lanes — and it never will. We’re open for all mobile operators and we’re not stopping anyone from joining. We want as many internet providers to join so as many people as possible can be connected.”
Thus Internet.org brings new users onto mobile networks on average over 50% faster after launching free basic services, and more than half of the people who come online through Internet.org are paying for data and accessing the internet within the first 30 days. These points show that Internet.org is not only a successful tool in helping bring people online, but it is successful in showing people the value of the internet and helping to accelerate its adoption.
The key goal was to bring more people online and help them discover the value of the internet by providing people with access to free basic services through Internet.org.
Facebook have made it easier for any mobile operator to turn on Internet.org in new countries through a partner portal that includes technical tools and best practices, improving the process to offer free basic services to the unconnected. New operator partners can get started at www.internet.org/operators.
Facebook has recently introduced the Internet.org Platform as an open program for developers. They have also made it easy for any developer to create services that integrate with Internet.org. The goal is to work with as many mobile operators and developers as possible to extend the benefits of connectivity to diverse, local communities around the world.
In the past month people using Internet.org accessed health services more than a million times, which speaks to the ultimate goal of Internet.org — helping to make an impact in people’s lives.
Facebook plans to work in partnership with more mobile operators and developers to bring internet access and relevant basic internet services to the unconnected.
