Happy birthday Internet.org. Facebook’s Internet.org is turning one this week! Born from Mark Zuckerberg’s dream of a future where the Internet is available to all, this project is making a difference. Internet.org which is already spreading access to the Web to the developing world, is now targeting new telecommunications allies, hoping to connect more people to the internet.
The initiative has already worked with approximately 12 telecom companies to provide basic internet in 17 countries, but expansion is on the agenda. Now, any network provider motivated enough to work with Internet.org can. It’s as simple as contacting the program on their operators page to join a team which is bringing internet access and relevant basic internet services to the unconnected. Internet.org helped accelerating the adoption of the Internet in new users onto mobile networks on average over 50% faster with their free services. More than half of the people who came online through Internet.org pay for data and accessing the internet within the first 30 days, a report shows.
Most people in the developing world do not use the internet, with access limited by high costs, poor availability and a lack of relevant content, a recent Facebook study conducted in the framework of Internet.org found. In the developed world, some 76 percent of the population is online, but the figure is just 29.8 percent in developing nations. These are the numbers behind the company’s commitment to bridge the digital divide. Facebook is not the only tech-giant investing in this field. Earlier this year, Google is set to invest $1bn in a fleet of satellites so that it can beam internet services across the developing world……..
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