Facebook Launched Internet.org with Telenor in Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan, the leading 3G subscriber’s base operator has collaborated with Facebook to launch internet.org. The official ceremony of the partnership took place today and is attended by many senior officials.

Telenor launched the program with 17 websites today, which are available for free unlimited browsing. However, external links, if any, will be charged as per usual tariffs. This is offered for both prepaid and postpaid customers and they will be able to use selected internet websites freely.

Pakistan is going to be the 7th country getting connected through Internet.org. While Facebook has planned to connect 100 more countries of the world and letting people realize the potential of internet.

The launch event was attended by:

• Michael Foley, CEO Telenor
• Irfan Wahab Deputy CEO, Telenor Pakistan
• Aslam Hayat Khan, VP, Telenor Pakistan

Whereas, from Facebook Ime Archibong, Global Head for Strategic Partnerships was also present at the event.

Telenor users can access following websites for free:

• Facebook
• Telenor Mobile Portal
• AccuWeather
• Babycenter & MAMA
• BBC News
• Bing
• ESPN Cricinfo
• Facts for Life
• Girl Effect
• IlmkiDunya
• Malaria No More
• Mustakbil
• OLX
• Telenor News
• UrduPoint Cooking
• Wikipedia
• BBC Urdu

Procedure for Browsing these Websites:

• Go to internet.org
• Select the website you want to access

Both 3G and 2G (pre-paid & post-paid) users of Telenor can access internet.org for free

Facebook’s Internet.org project has been under severe criticism across several countries. It has gained a lot of negative publicity in the neighboring country owing to the conflict with net neutrality.

The fundamental criticism faced by the Facebook’s internet.org project is “Net Neutrality”– the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differently by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. As Facebook is providing free access through its application which means that other organizations (the App industry) will have to suffer from this initiative.

Its right time for Telenor Pakistan to grab the opportunity as millions of customers will be attracted towards free internet.

Telenor & Facebook – Internet.org TVC 2015

 

What is internet.org Platform?

Internet.org is an exclusive initiative taken by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook, in order to provide free access to few websites and smartphone applications. Facebook created Internet.org to get 4.5 billion unconnected people on the internet, who are residing across Asia, Africa and Latin America. By introducing people to the benefits of the internet through these services, Facebook hope to bring more people online and help to improve their lives.

These services are simple and data efficient, so operators can offer Internet.org for free in a sustainable way. Developers do not pay to be included, and operators do not charge developers for the data people use for their services.

Why Mark came up with internet.org?

• Devices are too expensive.
• Service plans are too expensive
• Mobile networks are few and with less coverage area
• There is language gaps for online content
• People are not aware about the benefits of internet
• Networks are unable to support large amounts of data

As Mark said at Mobile World Congress, 2015:

[pull_quote_center]“Together we can remove these barriers and give the unconnected majority of the world the power to connect.”[/pull_quote_center]

Connecting the World from Sky:

To connect two third of the unconnected population, the company spotted following least connected regions of the world:

• Tanzania
• Indonesia
• Kenya
• Colombia
• Ghana
• India

In all these countries internet.org has successfully connected 9 billion people with help of one operator in each country.

Image: BIDNESETC