PO BAG 1: Free Basics

Showing posts with label Free Basics. Show all posts

22 February 2016

Zuckerberg to press on with Internet access despite setback

In this March 2, 2015 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a conference at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Zuckerberg likes to boast that his 3-year-old effort to connect the developing world to the Internet has reached millions of people in some of the world’s poorest nations. But a central element of his Internet.org campaign was controversial even before it was shut down in a key market this month. Indian regulators banned one of the pillars of the campaign, a service known as Free Basics, because it provided access only to certain pre-approved services - including Facebook - rather than the full Internet.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed Monday to press on with his 3-year-old effort to bring the developing world online, even after Indian regulators banned one of the pillars of the campaign.

He said the banned service, Free Basics, was only one program in his Internet.org campaign, so he could proceed with other initiatives. Indian regulators banned Free Basics this month because it provided access only to certain pre-approved services — including Facebook — rather than the full Internet.