Facebook, RCom get together to launch Internet.org in India

The service will offer free access to a handful of online services including job listings, healthcare and education sites in India

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | February 11, 2015

Facebook Inc has tied up with Reliance Communications to offer free access to a host of online services in India. Pegged as an effort to broadening Facebook's campaign to boost Internet use in the developing world, the service is aimed primarily at non-internet enabled feature phone users in India.

As part of the initial roll-out, Reliance customers in six Indian states – Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana – will get the services, while other parts of the country will be covered within the next 90 days.

Gurdeep Singh, CEO, Consumer Business, Reliance Communications, said, "We are delighted to announce the launch of Internet.org services in India. Through this partnership with Facebook, we aim to increase Internet inclusion and encourage more Indians to go online. This partnership will not only accelerate Internet penetration in India, it will also open new socio-economic opportunities to users in fields like education, information, and commerce."

India, the world's second-largest mobile market, will become the first country in Asia to get the Internet.org service. Internet users on the Reliance platform can access more than 30 web services including job listings, healthcare and education sites, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services for free. When users try to access content beyond these services, they will receive a notification to purchase the data services, if they haven't already enabled it.

Noting that nearly two-thirds of internet enabled customers on their network are not online, Singh pointed out that this service now allows them to get on the internet and explore the gamut of information available. Declining to comment on who bore the brunt of investment costs, Singh was quick to point out that this is the launch of a long movement.

An Android app has been unveiled, while users on other platforms can access the service using their internet browsers. The Internet.org service comes to India after having launched in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Colombia.

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