Coalition of mostly mobile tech companies hopes to connect the 5 billion people in the world who do not have Internet access. August 20, 2013 9:07 PM PDT Mark Zuckerberg has formed a global partnership with a group of tech companies that aims to bring affordable Internet access to the world. The Facebook chief executive announced Tuesday that the social network has partnered with the likes of Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to form Internet.org, which aims to deliver the Internet to the 5 billion people in the world without access. "Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it." Related stories Google outage reportedly caused big drop in global traffic Microsoft vs.Google: When tech firms fight, you lose either way Inside Scoop: Why Gmail's lack of privacy shouldn't be a surprise The group, which also includes MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Opera, plans to marshal the aid of wireless operators and device manufacturers to bring Internet access to the roughly two-thirds of the world's population who aren't connected. The group hopes to achieve this by focusing on three goals. Chief among those goals is providing affordable access, including making mobile connectivity more affordable. The group also wants to make more efficient use of data that results in the dramatic reduction in the amount of data needed to run apps and power the Internet. Finally, the group plans to back new business models and offer incentives to mobile operators, device manufacturers, developers, and other businesses to lower the cost of access. The group also intends to increase the number of languages enabled for use on mobile devices. Focusing on mobile access seems key for the initiative's success. Mobile traffic is growing so fast globally that in some places it has already surpassed desktop traffic, according to a report delivered in December by Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist Mary Meeker.
Coalition of mostly mobile tech companies hopes to connect the 5 billion people in the world who do not have Internet access.
Mark Zuckerberg has formed a global partnership with a group of tech companies that aims to bring affordable Internet access to the world.
The Facebook chief executive announced Tuesday that the social network has partnered with the likes of Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to form Internet.org, which aims to deliver the Internet to the 5 billion people in the world without access.
"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it."
Related stories
- Google outage reportedly caused big drop in global traffic
- Microsoft vs.Google: When tech firms fight, you lose either way
- Inside Scoop: Why Gmail's lack of privacy shouldn't be a surprise
The group, which also includes MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Opera, plans to marshal the aid of wireless operators and device manufacturers to bring Internet access to the roughly two-thirds of the world's population who aren't connected. The group hopes to achieve this by focusing on three goals.
Chief among those goals is providing affordable access, including making mobile connectivity more affordable. The group also wants to make more efficient use of data that results in the dramatic reduction in the amount of data needed to run apps and power the Internet.
Finally, the group plans to back new business models and offer incentives to mobile operators, device manufacturers, developers, and other businesses to lower the cost of access. The group also intends to increase the number of languages enabled for use on mobile devices.
Focusing on mobile access seems key for the initiative's success. Mobile traffic is growing so fast globally that in some places it has already surpassed desktop traffic, according to a report delivered in December by Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist Mary Meeker.
