Facebook Expands Internet.org Basic Services Across India

Internet.org, when it was first launched in February, was available to Reliance Communications’ subscribers in the seven telecom circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Social networking major Facebook’s efforts to take free Internet access to the whole of India got a major boost with Reliance Communications agreeing to roll out the Free Basic Services across the country.

Mr. Zuckerberg made his second trip within a year to New Delhi, India, where he addressed the Free Basics program and its importance to the country.

The Free Basics service, which comes in courtesy of the nonprofit, Internet.org, allows users running Reliance Communication to use some of the company’s services for free. Now, with Internet.org’s Free Basics available to everyone in India, many more people like Ganesh and Bharati will have access to the information and opportunity the Internet brings.

A post issued by the CEO on Tuesday, he wrote, “We just took another step towards connecting India”. A study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India estimates that the number of people in the country connected to the web will rise to 402 million in December from the October figure of 375 million.

In his post Zuckerberg claimed how Free Basics has helped Ganesh Nimbalkar, a farmer in Maharashtra, not only double his crop yield but also get a better deal for them. This philanthropic program was previously called Internet.org that Facebook renamed in September amid the criticism it attracted.

“India is home to the third largest internet user population (300 million) in the world, yet paradoxically, it also hosts the largest unconnected population (one billion) to the internet”, Zuckerberg said.

Many see internet access, given its growing role in enabling people to exercise freedom of expression and freedom of speech, as well increasingly facilitating democratic participation, as a UN-certified human right.

Free basics does not intend to harm anyone – neither the consumers nor the operators.