Facebook Inc plans to scale up its service to offer free basic Internet on mobile phones. In a blog post released to mark the first year of the initiative, the social media forum said it will open a portal allowing any mobile operator to offer the service under its Internet.org platform. It currently partners with specific operators to launch the service in different countries.
Internet.org has brought over 9 million people online over the past year, as informed by Chris Daniels, vice president of product for Internet.org to the media. Facebook developed the platform with six technology partners to bring an estimated 4.5 billion unconnected people online, mainly in Latin America, Asia and Africa. It offers pared-down web services for free to users, along with access to Facebookâs own social network and messaging services.
