Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

company

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

in collaboration with mobile phone-based

Internet provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...

s, 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. 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 dedicated to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran ...

in February 2010 by Chamath Palihapitiya. In collaboration with 50

mobile operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a mobile network provider, mobile network carrier, mobile , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, wireless operator, wireless telco, or cellular company, is a telecommunications provider of se ...

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 we ...

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 corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

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: * : Zain Jordan * : Telekom Albania; Vodafone Albania * : Djezzy;

Mobilis Mobilis may refer to: * ATM Mobilis, a mobile telephone operator in Algeria * Mobilis (Vaud), a public transport tariff network in the Vaud canton of Switzerland * Mobilis (automaker), a Brazilian micro EV maker * Mobilis – Protectis Range, softw ...

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

Grameenphone Grameenphone LTD, widely abbreviated as ( d/b/a) GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telen ...

* :

MTN Group MTN Group Limited (formerly M-Cell) is a South Africa, South African multinational corporation and mobile telecommunications provider. Its head office is in Johannesburg. MTN is among the List of mobile network operators, largest mobile netwo ...

* :

Freedom Mobile Freedom Mobile (formerly Wind Mobile) is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Québecor. As of November 30, 2022 it is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the country with 2,290,497 subscribers and a 6% market share, prim ...

* :

Bonbon A bonbon, sometimes bon-bon, is a small chocolate confection. They are sometimes filled with liqueur or other sweet alcoholic drinks and sold wrapped in colored foil. Ingredients Through the Western world, bonbons are usually small candies but v ...

;

Hrvatski Telekom Hrvatski Telekom, also known as HT or Telekom, is a Croatian telecommunications company founded in 1998. Headquartered in Zagreb, it is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom with a 53.5% stake and is publicly traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. ...

; MultiPlus Mobile; Simpa;

Tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

; Vipnet * :

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 telephony, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar Plus+ ...

* :

Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican-based Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 25 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, St. Lucia, Surinam ...

* : SFR * :

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 o ...

Ortel * : WIND Hellas * :

MagtiCom MagtiCom, LLC. (Georgian language, Georgian: :ka:მაგთიკომი, მაგთიკომი) is a Georgian telecoms company founded on February 12, 1996 by Dr. George (Gia) Jokhtaberidze. On September 22, 1997, the Company made th ...

* :

XL Axiata PT XLSmart Telecom Sejahtera Tbk (stylized in all-caps as XLSMART), formerly PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk and PT XL Axiata Tbk, is an Indonesian mobile telecommunications services operator headquartered at Jakarta, jointly owned by Malaysia-bas ...

* : Airtel Kenya * : iPKO * : DiGi * :

Maroc Telecom Maroc Telecom (IAM, ) 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 and 220 offices present across Morocco. ...

* : Ncell * : Telenor Pakistan; Jazz Pakistan,

Zong Pakistan CMPak Limited, doing business as Zong (), is a Pakistani mobile data network operator, owned by China Mobile. It is the first overseas setup of China Mobile through acquisition of a license from Millicom to operate a GSM network in Pakistan in ...

* : Jawwal * :

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, US. ...

* :

Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates one of the largest mobile, fixed-line and broadband networks in the Philippines. As of November 2023, ...

Smart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

, * :

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 * P ...

* : Vodafone Qatar * : Saudi Telecom Company * : CellC (Discontinued the service), Vodacom,

* :

* : Turkcell * : Du * :

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

* : 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 Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

'' 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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

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 knowled ...

. Google Free Zone, 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 western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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 Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...

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 computer ...

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