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- Internet.org Explained
Internet.org Explained
Internet.org is a new project created by Facebook designed to give access to essential internet resources free of charge to those who need them.
These are the core concepts:
Net Neutrality—the idea that ISPs and governments should treat all data on the internet equally—is not enough to make the Internet an equal access resource
The problem with doing Net Neutrality alone is that 2/3 of the world’s population (around 4 billion people) aren’t online at all because they can’t afford it
We must also make it possible for these 4 billion unconnected humans to gain access to Internet-based resources like education, HIV and maternal health care information, Wikipedia, and job listings
Internet.org is a platform aimed at doing this. It’s a partnership between mobile providers, governments, local entrepreneurs, and companies like Facebook designed to enable these free services, and anyone can join
No company pays to be included
No operator is paid to offer services
Facebook doesn’t even show adds on Internet.org
The idea supports itself, as people getting free services will soon be able to afford to pay for regular ones
TL;DR: Internet.org is the combination of free network access and free essential services aimed at helping the 4 billion poor and unconnected in the world.
Notes
Services wishing to use Internet.org should work on all phones and not be heavy, meaning they should not use VOIP, video, high resolution images, or anything else that will tax the bandwidth of the operator or make the content unreadable on low-end devices.