Facebook will debut a mobile app that gives users in Zambia free access to a handful of online services on mobile phones, broadening an effort to boost Internet usage in underdeveloped countries.
The Internet.org app - which Facebook says is a response to only 30% of the world's population accessing the Internet (despite over 85% having cellular coverage) - will offer over 12 services, including online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, weather Web sites, job listings and health information, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging service.
The app will be available to Airtel subscribers in Zambia at first, but Guy Rosen, product management director for Facebook's Internet.org effort, says the social network giant will continue to improve the experience and roll it out to other parts of the world.
Rosen says Facebook will not pay Airtel for the bandwidth, but Airtel will benefit as users who are exposed to Internet services eventually decide to pay for broader, unrestricted access.
Access to the information on the app's included services is free, but links that lead to information on other Web sites will require that users pay wireless data charges. The free version of Facebook in the app does not allow for the video playback.
Facebook has partnered with more than 150 wireless providers over the past four years to offer free or discounted access to its social network, but the new app in Zambia marks the first time the company has added Web services beyond its own social network to the menu of free services.
The move comes as Facebook steps up investments in its Internet.org project, which seeks to connect the "next five billion" users to the Internet, many of whom live in places like Africa and India. In March, Facebook announced plans to use drones and satellites to deliver Internet connectivity to people in certain parts of the world.
The initiative has the potential to boost the size of Facebook's audience, which currently totals 1.32 billion monthly users.
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