Facebook Zero

src: paulsutton.co

Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by social networking service company Facebook in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as zero-rate) for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down text-only version of its mobile website (as opposed to the ordinary mobile website m.facebook.com that also loads pictures). The stripped-down version is available online only through providers who have entered the agreement with Facebook. Photos are not loaded by default. Users may still choose to view them by clicking through but regular data charges apply to photo use.

Video Facebook Zero

History

Plans for Facebook Zero were first announced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2010 by Chamath Palihapitiya. It was officially of launched on May 18, 2010, in collaboration with 50 mobile operators around the world.

Maps Facebook Zero

Carriers

Several carriers offer Facebook Zero:

•  Jordan: Zain Jordan
•  Albania: Telekom Albania; Vodafone Albania
•  Algeria: Djezzy; Mobilis
•  Angola: Unitel S.A.
•  Bangladesh: Grameenphone
•  Benin: MTN Group
•  Botswana: MASCOM
•  Cameroon: MTN Group
•  Canada: Freedom Mobile
•  Croatia: Bonbon; Hrvatski Telekom; MultiPlus Mobile; Simpa; Tomato; Vipnet
•  El Salvador: Movistar
•  Fiji: Digicel
•  France: SFR
•  Germany: E-Plus Ortel
•  Greece: Vodafone Greece; WIND Hellas; Cosmote
•  Georgia: MagtiCom
•  Guinea: MTN Group
•  Indonesia: XL Axiata
•  Kenya: Airtel Kenya
•  Kosovo: iPKO
•  Malaysia: DiGi
•  Morocco : Maroc Telecom
•    Nepal: Ncell
•  Pakistan:Telenor Pakistan;Zong Pakistan
•  Palestine : Jawwal
•  Panama: Cable & Wireless Communications
•  Philippines: Smart
•  Poland: Play
•  Qatar: Vodafone Qatar
•  Saudi Arabia : Saudi Telecom Company [1]
•  South Africa: CellC; Vodacom
•  Suriname: Digicel
•  Trinidad and Tobago: Digicel
•  United Kingdom: Three
•  Zimbabwe: Telecel Zimbabwe

src: i.ytimg.com

Reception and impact

An article by Christopher Mims in Quartz in September 2012 stated that Facebook Zero played a very important role in Facebook's expansion in Africa over the 18 months following the release of Facebook Zero, noting that data charges could be a significant component of mobile usage cost and the waiving of these charges reduced a significant disincentive for people in Africa to use Facebook.

Facebook Zero was also credited as the inspiration for a similar initiative undertaken by Wikipedia titled Wikipedia Zero.

Google Free Zone, a similar service launched by Google in November 2012, was viewed by Internet commentators as both inspired by and a potential challenge to Facebook Zero.

The Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones of Chile ruled that zero-rating services like Wikipedia Zero, Facebook Zero, and Google Free Zone, that subsidize mobile data usage, violate net neutrality laws and had to end the practise by June 1, 2014.

In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes information and communication technology use in the developing world found that 11% of Indonesians who said they used Facebook also said they did not use the Internet. 65% of Nigerians, 61% of Indonesians, and 58% of Indians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet".

src: i.ytimg.com

See also

• Free Basics by Facebook
• Alliance for Affordable Internet
• Facebook for SIM
• Google Free Zone
• Twitter Zero
• Wikipedia Zero

src: i.ytimg.com

References

src: www.slate.com

External links

• Official website

Source of article : Wikipedia