Facebook is planning to give free internet to millions of users in the US and is currently in talk with government officials and wireless carriers, according to a report published in The Washington Post.
The company wants to launch an American version of the app that would provide Free Basics service in the US, and is now trying to find out how to launch the service in the country, and connect millions of users to the Web.
“While we have nothing to announce, Facebook’s mission is to connect the world and we’re always exploring ways to do that, including in the United States,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Facebook’s Free Basics service was launched in 2014 with an aim to provide access to a limited number of internet sites for free in those regions of the world where online access is virtually nonexistent. The service is currently available in 36 countries, and Facebook now want to spread it in more regions in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
However, the social network is taking each step cautiously to avoid any controversies similar to those that derailed the project in India earlier this year. The company was criticized for deciding the type of content that would be offered to people. People raised concerns that the free service would potentially give preferential treatment to some websites, thus violating the principle of Net neutrality, according to which, all types of service and content should be treated equally on the internet.
The American version of Free Basics would provide internet access to low-income Americans living the rural areas, and unable to afford high-speed Internet at home. The app, in partnership with wireless carriers, would offer free access to Internet resources such as health information, online news, etc.
The idea of launching Free Basics in the US is expected to start a new debate on the future of Internet and Net neutrality. Those in favor of the service would argue that such services could play a vital role in connecting poor people to the Internet. Those criticizing the service would state that such service would violate the principle of Net Neutrality and would favor businesses with the budgets and expertise to participate in such programs.
According to The Washington Post, Facebook is currently in talks with US Government and wants to ensure that the government views it favorably before the service is launched on ground.
US Internet advocates have asked the FCC to take steps to regulate zero-rating under net neutrality rules.
“Zero-rating is pernicious, unfair and unnecessary,” said Susan Crawford, a law professor at Harvard, who thinks permitting such a service would enable “the gameplaying of companies who have a strong interest in maintaining the status quo.”
However, it is also a fact that internet cost is a significant factor in preventing some Americans from accessing the internet.
Fifteen percent of the adults in the US have few options other than a cellphone for getting online, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, and 48 percent of these people say they have to suspend their wireless service because they can’t afford it. Surprisingly, 68% of adults in the survey said the Internet is a waste of time, or too hard to use.
According to Facebook, wireless carriers will also be benefited by participating in Free Basics program. The company said about fifty percent of the people who use Internet for the first time with Free Basics end up paying for a mobile data plan within the first 30 days of use.
History of Facebook
Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, U.S., is the largest social networking website in the world. The Facebook website was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students Andrew McCollum, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz. Initially, the websites membership was limited to Harvard students, but it was later expanded to include higher education institutions in the Boston area, the Ivy League schools, and Stanford University. Since 2006, anyone aged 13 or above can register on the website.
By late 2007, there were 100,000 business pages on Facebook. These pages were created by companies to promote themselves and attract customers. On October 24, 2007, Microsoft revealed to have purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million. Once year later, Facebook announced its plan to set up its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.
In July 2010, the company announced to have touched the milestone of 500 million users, making it the world’s largest online social network at the time. At that time, almost half of the Facebook users were using the site daily, for an average of 34 minutes (according to the company’s data).
According to SecondMarket Inc., Facebook’s value in November 2010 was $41 billion, making it the third largest American web company after Google and Amazon.
The initial public offering of Facebook was held in February 2012. Three months later, the company started selling stock to the public, and reached an original peak market capitalization of $104 billion. As of March 31, 2016, the social network had over 1.65 billion monthly active users, and it is now also the world’s most popular social networking site based on the number of active user accounts.
