Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
According to a Telegraph report, talks between the two companies are said to be at an advanced stage with an announcement detailing the collaboration expected soon.
The project is being carried out under the auspices of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org initiative, which is geared towards developing the developing world through internet connectivity.
The initiative was launched in August last year in partnership with Ericsson, Media Tek, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung, with the collective goal of connecting five billion people from emerging markets to internet access.
“If you increase the number of people in emerging markets with internet access, you can create 100 million jobs,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
By creating more jobs in developing economies, the Internet.org initiative believe that global productivity could increase by at least 25% while at the same time lifting 160 million people out of poverty, the report says.
“No one should have to choose between access to the internet and food or medicine. Internet.org partners will join forces to develop technology that decreases the cost of delivering data to people worldwide and helps expand internet access in underserved communities,” the initiative’s mission statement reads.
Avanti own two broadband satellites that are reportedly positioned over the continent and plan to launch another two over the next three years to boost capacity and coverage in Africa.
According to the Mail Online, Zuckerberg approached Avanti after plans to bring the internet to the continent through mobile operators, including the likes of Vodafone, were rejected. In rejecting the proposal, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao reportedly said there was “no reason I should give away my network’s capacity for free”.
In an interview with CNN Zuckerberg was quoted as saying: “Here we use things like Facebook to share news and catch up with our friends, but there [in Africa], they’re going to use it to decide what kind of government they want, get access to healthcare for the first time ever, connect with family hundreds of miles away that they haven’t seen for decades. Getting access to the internet is a really big deal.”
Zuckerberg is no stranger to advancing the plight of Africans, recently donating $25 million (R276,9 million) to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to fight the Ebola outbreak that has claimed around 5 000 lives. He also launched a tool on Facebook that allows users to donate money to organisations working to fight Ebola, while providing internet access to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to assist medical and aid workers track Ebola cases and co-ordinate their response to the fatal disease.
Source: The Telegraph, Mail Online
http://www.destinyman.com/2014/11/18/zuckerbergs-bid-to-roll-out-free-internet-in-africa/
The project is being carried out under the auspices of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org initiative, which is geared towards developing the developing world through internet connectivity.
The initiative was launched in August last year in partnership with Ericsson, Media Tek, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung, with the collective goal of connecting five billion people from emerging markets to internet access.
“If you increase the number of people in emerging markets with internet access, you can create 100 million jobs,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
By creating more jobs in developing economies, the Internet.org initiative believe that global productivity could increase by at least 25% while at the same time lifting 160 million people out of poverty, the report says.
“No one should have to choose between access to the internet and food or medicine. Internet.org partners will join forces to develop technology that decreases the cost of delivering data to people worldwide and helps expand internet access in underserved communities,” the initiative’s mission statement reads.
Avanti own two broadband satellites that are reportedly positioned over the continent and plan to launch another two over the next three years to boost capacity and coverage in Africa.
According to the Mail Online, Zuckerberg approached Avanti after plans to bring the internet to the continent through mobile operators, including the likes of Vodafone, were rejected. In rejecting the proposal, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao reportedly said there was “no reason I should give away my network’s capacity for free”.
In an interview with CNN Zuckerberg was quoted as saying: “Here we use things like Facebook to share news and catch up with our friends, but there [in Africa], they’re going to use it to decide what kind of government they want, get access to healthcare for the first time ever, connect with family hundreds of miles away that they haven’t seen for decades. Getting access to the internet is a really big deal.”
Zuckerberg is no stranger to advancing the plight of Africans, recently donating $25 million (R276,9 million) to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to fight the Ebola outbreak that has claimed around 5 000 lives. He also launched a tool on Facebook that allows users to donate money to organisations working to fight Ebola, while providing internet access to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to assist medical and aid workers track Ebola cases and co-ordinate their response to the fatal disease.
Source: The Telegraph, Mail Online
http://www.destinyman.com/2014/11/18/zuckerbergs-bid-to-roll-out-free-internet-in-africa/
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