CEO of Facebook launches free Facebook on Airtel

• Posted on January 23, 2015January 23, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has announced a partnership with Airtel which offers Facebook’s Internet.org app to Airtel customers across Africa.

Facebook’s Internet.org app was launched out of the conviction that every person should have access to free basic internet services – tools for health, education, jobs, local information, and basic communication.

Research by Ericsson has indicated that while more than 85 percent of the world’s population lives within cellular range, only 30 percent currently access the Internet, and much of this gap is due to cost.

The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that over the past years, Facebook has been working with mobile operators around the world to deliver on this goal, adding that it has already helped three million people who previously had no access to benefit from the internet services.

Currently, the Internet.org app is also available in Zambia and Kenya as Airtel subscribers in that part of the world are enjoying free data access to basic internet services. Prior to the launch, only 15% of the people in Zambia had access to the internet.

Facebook remains very popular in Ghana and according to Alexa.com, is the most visited website in the country.

Indeed, Facebook has become a community of networking friends. To some it is a business where people are making their daily living from. To others, it is their first point of call for news.  To Airtel, it opens up more opportunities for the millions of its subscribers to stay connected and grow their potential from the wealth of information available on the internet.

In addition to giving Airtel subscribers free Facebook, they will also have free access to a set of basic internet websites and services in areas such as education, news, women’s services, health, communication, jobs, local information and entertainment.

Customers can access the Internet.org app from Google Play store or by going to www.internet.org from their mobile browsers.