Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

company

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

in collaboration with mobile phone-based

Internet provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as '' zero-rate'') for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down

text-only In computing, text-based user interfaces (TUI) (alternately terminal user interfaces, to reflect a dependence upon the properties of computer terminals and not just text), is a retronym describing a type of user interface (UI) common as an ...

version of its

mobile website The mobile web refers to mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile network, mobile or other wireless network. History and development Traditio ...

(as opposed to the ordinary mobile website m.facebook.com that also loads pictures). The stripped-down version is available online only through providers who have entered the agreement with Facebook. Photos are not loaded by default. Users may still choose to view them by clicking through but regular data charges apply to photo use.

History

Plans for Facebook Zero were first announced at the

Mobile World Congress MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...

in February 2010 by

Chamath Palihapitiya Chamath Palihapitiya (born 3 September 1976) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian and American venture capitalist, engineer, SPAC sponsor, founder and CEO of Social Capital. Palihapitiya was an early senior executive at Facebook, working at the compan ...

. In collaboration with 50

mobile operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sel ...

s around the world, it was officially of launched on May 18, 2010. The scheme is considered zero-rated or the practice of offering free data for some services, filtering out others. The Facebook model featured a stripped-down version of the platform, which was made available to all mobile phone owners. It was offered in

emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

s to address the issue of data caps. A report explained that Facebook Zero subsidized phone data for a period, allowing for free user access. Facebook also provide technical assistance to partner carriers so that the process incurs low cost. In some countries, Facebook Zero is offered as part of a carrier's Free Basic data plan that could include access to

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. I ...

and

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read referenc ...

as well as localized content. Facebook Zero became controversial in some countries due to several issues such as net neutrality. For instance, India's Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) bans zero-rated services on account of "discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content”. A criticism also stated that Facebook is practicing digital colonialism because it is not introducing open internet but building a "little web that turns the user into a mostly passive consumer of mostly western corporate content”. Several carriers offer Facebook Zero: * :

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* :

Telekom Albania One Telecommunications (also known as One Albania) is a telecommunications company that operates in Albania, previously as Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC), and as Telekom Albania. As AMC, it was part of the COSMOTE Group from 2000, and in 20 ...

;

Vodafone Albania Vodafone Albania (part of Vodafone Group plc) is a major telecommunications company based in Tirana, Albania. Technology Vodafone Albania started offering GSM services on August 3, 2001, after AMC from 1996. The Display name of Vodafone is: Voda ...

* :

Djezzy Djezzy (Arabic: جازي) is Algeria's principal mobile network operator, with a market share of 65% (over 16.49 million subscribers in December 2016) and a network covering 90% of the population (48 wilayas). Djezzy is wholly owned by the Algeria ...

;

Mobilis Mobilis may refer to: * Mobilis (Algeria), a mobile telephone operator in Algeria * Mobilis (Île-de-France), a public transport tariff in the Île-de-France region of France * Mobilis (Vaud), a public transport tariff network in the Vaud canton o ...

* : Unitel S.A. * : ERONET * :

Grameenphone Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, with 83.02 million subscribers (as of January 2022). It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation. Telen ...

* :

MTN Group MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

* :

Freedom Mobile Freedom Mobile Inc. is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Shaw Communications. It has 6% market share of Canada, mostly in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Freedom Mobile is the fourth-largest wirele ...

* :

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;

Hrvatski Telekom T-Hrvatski Telekom d.d. is a Croatian telecommunications company. Since its initial public offering in October 2007, T-Hrvatski Telekom shares have traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with global depositary receipts trading on the London Stock ...

; MultiPlus Mobile; Simpa;

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;

Vipnet A1 Hrvatska d.o.o. is a Croatian telecommunications company owned by A1 Telekom Austria Group. The comapny was launched in July 1999 as Vipnet and rebranded to A1 in 2018. History 1999–2009 Granted the concession for the second GSM networ ...

* :

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar is ...

* :

Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican and Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname, and J ...

* :

SFR SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company. As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...

* :

E-Plus E-Plus was a mobile telecommunications operator in Germany. With more than 25 million subscribers, E-Plus was the third largest mobile operator in Germany, until the takeover from Telefónica Germany in October, 2014. Ownership E-Plus was ...

Ortel * : WIND Hellas * : MagtiCom * :

* :

XL Axiata PT XL Axiata Tbk (formerly PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk), is an Indonesia-based mobile telecommunications services operator headquartered at Jakarta. It is the second largest mobile telecommunications company in Indonesia. The operator's coverag ...

* :

Airtel Kenya Airtel Kenya Ltd (commonly known as Airtel), a subsidiary of Airtel Africa (owned by Bharti Airtel), is the second largest telecommunications services provider in Kenya after Safaricom PLC. It has an estimated 16.2 million subscribers of the tot ...

* :

iPKO IPKO is a company that provides telecommunication services in Kosovo. It is the second mobile operator in the country. Amongst their services are: mobile telephony, fixed telephony, internet provider and cable TV. The main shareholder of the compa ...

* :

DiGi Digi may refer to: * Short for "digital" as in digicam, digiscale, digiscrap, digibee *Digi Communications, a Romanian telecommunications company in Romania, Hungary, Spain and Italy * Digi International, an American electronics manufacturer *Digi- ...

* :

Maroc Telecom Maroc Telecom (Acronym: IAM, ar, اتصالات المغرب) is the main telecommunications company in Morocco. Currently employing around 11,178 employees, it is the largest telecommunications network in the country with 8 regional delegations ...

* :

Ncell Ncell Axiata Limited (previously Ncell Private Limited) ( ne, एनसेल आजियाटा) is a mobile service provider from Nepal. Ncell is Nepal's second largest telecommunications company, after Nepal Telecom. The company was founde ...

* :

Telenor Pakistan Telenor Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited (Urdu: ٹیلی نار پاکستان) is the second largest cellular & digital services provider in Pakistan owned by Telenor Group, which is an international provider of voice, data, content and mobile commu ...

; Jazz Pakistan,

Zong Pakistan CMPak Limited ( ur, ), doing business under brand name Zong, is a Pakistan based mobile data network operator, owned by the company China Mobile. It is the first overseas setup of China Mobile through acquisition of a license from Millicom to ...

* :

Jawwal Palestine Cellular Communications Company, trading as Jawwal ( ar, جوال), is the first Palestinian communications company specialized in cellular and wireless communications; assumes its business in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and is one of ...

* :

Cable & Wireless Communications Cable & Wireless Communications Ltd operating as C&W Communications is a telecommunications company which has operations in the Caribbean and Central America. It is owned by Liberty Latin America and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It ...

* :

Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks ...

Smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...

, * :

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

* : Vodafone Qatar * :

Saudi Telecom Company Saudi Telecommunication Company (stylized as stc) (Arabic: شركة إتصالات السعودية ) is the Saudi digital enabler of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and among the operators in the Middle East. The comp ...

* : CellC (Discontinued the service), Vodacom,

* :

* : Du * :

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* : Telecel Zimbabwe * : Airtel Zambia

Reception and impact

An article by Christopher Mims in ''

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

'' in September 2012 stated that Facebook Zero played a very important role in Facebook's expansion in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

over the 18 months following the release of Facebook Zero, noting that data charges could be a significant component of mobile usage cost and the waiving of these charges reduced a significant disincentive for people in Africa to use Facebook. Facebook Zero was also credited as the inspiration for a similar initiative undertaken by

titled

Wikipedia Zero Wikipedia Zero was a project by the Wikimedia Foundation to provide access to Wikipedia free of charge on mobile phones via zero-rating, particularly in developing markets. The objective of the program was to facilitate access to free knowledg ...

Google Free Zone Google Free Zone was a global initiative undertaken by the Internet company Google in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as '' zero-rate'') for accessing selec ...

, a similar service launched by

in November 2012, was viewed by Internet commentators as both inspired by and a potential challenge to Facebook Zero. The ''Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones'' of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

ruled that ''

zero-rating Zero-rating is the practice of providing Internet access without financial cost under certain conditions, such as by permitting access to only certain websites or by subsidizing the service with advertising or by exempting certain websites from ...

'' services like Wikipedia Zero, Facebook Zero, and Google Free Zone, that subsidize mobile data usage, violate

net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of ...

laws and had to end the practise by June 1, 2014. In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes

information and communication technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

use in the developing world found that 11% of Indonesians who said they used Facebook also said they did not use the Internet. 65% of Nigerians, 61% of Indonesians, and 58% of Indians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet".

References

External links

* {{Facebook navbox Facebook Net neutrality

History

Reception and impact

See also

References

External links