Facebook is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the Internet.org app by hosting a Developer Day at iHub in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday, 27 July.
[ad id=”187″]All through last year, Facebook has worked closely with more than a dozen mobile operators across 17 countries to give people access to relevant basic internet services without data charges. Today Internet.org is available to more than a billion people. African countries where Internet.org has been launched include Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, Ghana, Angola and Malawi.
In the words of Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org “Internet.org brings new users onto mobile networks on average over 50% faster after launching free basic services, and more than half of the people who come online through Internet.org are paying for data and accessing the internet within the first 30 days. In the past month people using Internet.org accessed health services more than a million times, which speaks to the ultimate goal of Internet.org — helping to make an impact in people’s lives.”
The one anniversary also marks the start of a new phase for Internet.org free basic services. From today, Facebook has made it easier for any mobile operator to sign up for and turn on Internet.org in new countries through a partner portal that includes technical tools and best practices, improving the process to offer free basic services to the unconnected. Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative focused on providing affordable internet access to the two thirds of the world’s population that is currently unconnected.
