Facebook Zero
| Owner | Facebook, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Created by | Mark Zuckerberg |
| Website | 0 |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by social networking service company Facebook in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as zero-rate) for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down text-only version of its mobile website (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.[1][2][3][4] 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[edit]
Plans for Facebook Zero were first announced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2010 by Chamath Palihapitiya.[5]
It was officially of launched on May 18, 2010 in collaboration with 50 mobile operators around the world.[1]
Carriers[edit]
Several carriers offer Facebook Zero:[1]
Albania: Telekom Albania; Vodafone Albania
Algeria: Djezzy;[6] Mobilis
Angola: Unitel S.A.
Bangladesh: Grameenphone
Botswana: MASCOM
Cameroon: MTN Group
Canada: Freedom Mobile
Croatia: Bonbon;[7] Hrvatski Telekom;[8] MultiPlus Mobile;[9] Simpa;[10] Tomato;[11] Vipnet
El Salvador: Movistar
Fiji: Digicel
France: SFR
Germany: E-Plus[12]
Greece: Vodafone Greece;[13] WIND Hellas[14]
Georgia: MagtiCom
Guinea: MTN Group
Indonesia: XL Axiata
Kosovo: iPKO
Malaysia: DiGi
Pakistan:Telenor Pakistan;Zong Pakistan [15][16][17][18]
Panama: Cable & Wireless Communications
Philippines: Smart[19]
Poland: Play[20]
Qatar: Vodafone Qatar
Suriname: Digicel
Trinidad and Tobago: Digicel
United Kingdom: Three
Zimbabwe: Telecel Zimbabwe
Kenya: Airtel Kenya
KSA : Saudi Telecom Company [1]
Morocco : Maroc Telecom
Palestine : Jawwal[21]
Kurdistan : Asiacell
Reception and impact[edit]
An article by Christopher Mims in Quartz in September 2012 stated that Facebook Zero played a very important role in Facebook's expansion in Africa 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.[22]
Facebook Zero was also credited as the inspiration for a similar initiative undertaken by Wikipedia titled Wikipedia Zero.[23][24][25]
Google Free Zone, a similar service launched by Google in November 2012, was viewed by Internet commentators as both inspired by and a potential challenge to Facebook Zero.[26][27][28][29]
The Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones of Chile ruled that Zero-rating services like Wikipedia Zero, Facebook Zero, and Google Free Zone, that subsidize mobile data usage, violate net neutrality laws and had to end the practise by June 1, 2014.[30][31]
In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes ICT 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"[32] compared with only 5% in the US[citation needed].
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Murlidhar, Sid (May 18, 2010). "Fast and Free Facebook Mobile Access with 0.facebook.com". Facebook. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Facebook". MTN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Facebook Zero - free on 2degrees!". 2degrees. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Facebook Zero!". GrameenPhone. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Wauters, Robin (February 16, 2010). "Facebook Launches Zero, A Text-Only Mobile Site For Carriers". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Services : Réseaux sociaux". Djezzy (in French). Retrieved October 2, 2016.
- ^ "Problemi sa 0.facebook.com" [Problems with 0.facebook.com]. bonbon. March 26, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "Facebook Zero". Hrvatski Telekom FAQ. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "Facebook zero". MultiPlus Mobile. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "Besplatni Facebook" [Free Facebook]. Simpa. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "Uvjeti korištenja besplatnog Facebooka Zero za Tomato korisnike bonova" [Free Facebook Zero Terms of Use for Tomato Prepaid Users]. Tomato. 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "E-Plus Gruppe: Kostenloser Zugang zu Facebook".
- ^ "Vodafone Greece 0.Facebook".
- ^ "WIND Hellas 0.Facebook". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
- ^ "Facebook provides free internet access to Pakistani citizens". DAWN. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ "Use Facebook on Phones for Free With Mobilink Jazz, Jazba". ProPakistani. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ "Facebook Freebasics". Zong Pakistan.
- ^ "Zong brings free internet in partnership with Facebook". THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Consulji, Bianca (November 1, 2013). "Facebook Rolls Out Zero Data Charge Access in the Philippines". Mashable. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Facebook za ZERO bez reklam".
- ^ "أهلاً بكم في شركة الاتصالات الخلوية الفلسطينية - جوال - افراد - ما هي خدمة زيرو فيس بوك ؟". أهلاً بكم في شركة الاتصالات الخلوية الفلسطينية - جوال. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Mims, Christopher (September 24, 2012). "Facebook's plan to find its next billion users: convince them the internet and Facebook are the same". Quartz. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Mobile partnerships". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Brian, Matt (May 27, 2012). "Wikipedia Zero expands into Asia, drops mobile data charges for 10m subscribers in Malaysia". The Next Web. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Dillon, Conon (December 18, 2013). "Wikipedia Zero: free data if you can afford it". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ "Google Free Zone". Google Operating System blog (not affiliated with Google). October 25, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Knowles, Jamillah (November 8, 2012). "The Philippines gets Facebook Zero-style free mobile access to Google services via Globe Telecom". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Jana (December 3, 2012). "Google Free Zone: Google's Challenge to Facebook Zero". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Deibert, April (February 19, 2013). "Google 'Free Zone' and Facebook 'Zero': Products Targeting Developing Populations". Innovation Series. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Mirani, Leo (May 30, 2014). "Less than zero – When net neutrality backfires: Chile just killed free access to Wikipedia and Facebook". Quartz. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ McKenzie, Jessica (June 2, 2014). "Face Off in Chile: Net Neutrality v. Human Right to Facebook & Wikipedia". Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ Leo Mirani (9 Feb 2015). "Millions of Facebook users have no idea they're using the internet".