Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg is visiting India to address a townhall and Free Basics, erstwhile known as Internet.org, is likely to be main issue Zuckerberg is expected to address during his India visit. It’s worth pointing out that despite criticism from Internet activists in India, an undeterred Facebook has continued to expand its Free Basics service in the country. It is aimed at making Internet accessible to more people by providing access to basic Internet services such as news, health, local jobs, communication and government related information for free. One of the key initiatives under the Free Basics is the Express Wi-Fi, which envisages providing affordable Internet in the country at a lower-cost.
Facebook has already begun a pilot project in the country. According to a NYT report, Facebook is currently running the project in Garhwal region near the Nepalese border. In partnership with AirJaldi, Express Wi-Fi users can access 100MB of Internet a day for Rs 10. Or they can pay Rs 200 and get 20GB of data with a month’s validity, which is much cheaper than what most Internet Service Provides charge in India.
According to Michael Ginguld, AirJaldi’s director of strategy and operations, about 30,000 people in the region, are currently using the service. About 6,000 users are accessing the service daily. AirJaldi and Facebook also look to expand the service in other parts of the country. Unlike Internet.org or Free Basics, where access is limited only to stripped down versions of websites approved by Facebook, Express Wi-Fi users can access anything on the Internet without any restrictions. This was one of the biggest criticism of Internet.org.
Facebook has been making several efforts to provide affordable Internet in remote areas of the world. Facebook engineers are hard at work to build efficient solar-powered drones to provide affordable Internet across the world. The initiative is akin to Google’s Project Loon, under which the company wants to provide affordable connectivity via Helium balloons.
Facebook’s Internet.org had come under wide criticism after Internet activists claimed the service breached the concept of net neutrality. However, Facebook has maintained its service adheres to the Net Neutrality and is in line with the Indian government’s ambitious Digital India campaign. A re-branded Free Basics service recently went live in India with more than 60 partnerships that also has focus on healthcare and farmers.
Expansion of Facebook’s Free Basics also reflects growing focus on India, which is also one of the top markets for the company. After Modi’s visit to Facebook’s headquarters, Facebook has shown an enthusiastic approach to Digital India mission and is expected to further boost its investments in services such as Express Wi-Fi.
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