Internet.org is a partnership between social networking services company Facebook and seven mobile phone companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Microsoft, Opera Software, Reliance and Qualcomm) that plans to bring affordable access to selected Internet services to less developed countries by increasing affordability, increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models around the provision of Internet access.
It has been criticized for violating net neutrality and favoring Facebook's own services over its rivals.[3] An Indian journalist, in his reply to Mark Zuckerberg's article defending Internet.org in India, criticized Internet.org as "being just a Facebook proxy targeting India's poor" as it provides restricted access to internet to Reliance Telecom's subscribers in India.[4] Until April 2015, Internet.org users could access (for free) only a select few websites, and Facebook's role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were in that list was criticised for violating net neutrality. However, in early May 2015, Facebook announced that the Internet.org Platform would be opened up to websites that met particular criteria.
Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative bringing together technology leaders, nonprofits and local communities to connect the two thirds of the world that doesn’t have internet access.
Only 1 out of every 3 people can go online.
Why aren’t more people connected?
Devices are too expensive.
Service plans are too expensive.
Mobile networks are few and far between.
Content isn’t available in the local language.
People aren't sure what value the internet will bring.
Power sources are limited or costly.
Networks can’t support large amounts of data.
Together we can remove these barriers and give the unconnected majority of the world the power to connect.
We’re in this together.
Making the internet available to every person on earth is a goal too large and too important for any one company, group or government to solve alone. Everyone participating in Internet.org has come together to meet this challenge because they believe in the power of a connected world.
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Wednesday 13 May 2015
