Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put out a post today announcing that the company’s Internet.org initiative will now be accessible nationwide on the Reliance network. The service that runs from the recently re-branded Free Basics app (available on Android
smartphones) was launched in May this year and saw a lot of controversy around the topic of net neutrality.
While Internet.org was launched on the Reliance network, it was only made available in few areas in India allowing those who cannot afford internet access to freely access internet services related to health, jobs, education and communication. The same Internet.org app soon got re-branded as Free Basics, which today went India-wide.
In his post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out his reason for pushing for India-wide access, giving an example of how basic internet access can benefit the common man. In his example, Zuckerberg details the story of how a farmer in Maharashtra doubled his crop yield despite being a region that is often plagued by droughts:
“Ganesh struggled with traditional farming methods in a region plagued by droughts, but last year he started using Free Basics – accessing services like AccuWeather, which helped him work better through the monsoon season, and Reuters Market Light, which helped him understand commodity prices and get a better deal for his crops.”
The CEO went on to point out how nearly a billion people in India still do not have access to the internet and hope’s that the company’s initiative will help benefit the same.
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