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Facebook merges internet projects under 'Connectivity'
Facebook has introduced Connectivity, a new umbrella organization containing the company's various internet-for-all projects. Yes, it still includes Internet.org (rebranded as Free Basics), the social network's stripped-down web service launched five years ago that was soundly criticized by experts and blocked in several countries. But it also rounds up other efforts to improve internet infrastructure in less-connected parts of the world.
Facebook's free internet service expands to Malawi
As good a cause as it is, Internet.org recently came under pressure for allegedly violating India's net neutrality laws -- something Facebook was quick to address. Still, that's not stopping the social network from spreading its initiative, which brings free basic web access to underdeveloped countries, across more places. Today Internet.org, backed also by companies like Nokia, Samsung and Qualcomm, is launching in Malawi, an African country with a population of 16 million-plus. Mark Zuckerberg let it be known in a Facebook post that, with this expansion, Internet.org is now available to over 1 billion people around the globe.
Indian firms back out of Facebook's free internet program
Facebook's Internet.org effort is supposed to democratize the internet by providing free access to key websites, but some Indian companies don't think it's quite so altruistic -- and they want out. Cleartrip, NewsHunt, NDTV and the Times Group have all announced that they're withdrawing some or all of their sites from Internet.org because they believe it violates net neutrality. They argue that Facebook's program unfairly favors certain sites over others -- why should it cost you to use some sites, and not others? As the Times Group explains, a site shouldn't be punished for taking a "principled stand."
Facebook aims to connect the world with 'drones, satellites and lasers'
Following the hubbub of its recent acquisition of virtual reality firm Oculus VR, Facebook has just announced something slightly more altruistic: a team dedicated to bringing basic internet access to everyone in the world. Simply dubbed the Connectivity Lab, the crew is a result of Internet.org, a global initiative Mark Zuckerberg introduced back in August of last year. In collaboration with Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Samsung and Qualcomm, Internet.org has reportedly already helped three million new people in Philippines and Paraguay get online. But a lot remains to be done, which is where Facebook's Connectivity Lab comes in. Its goal? To develop new connectivity platforms for internet delivery, which apparently includes "drones, satellites and lasers," according to a statement from Zuckerberg.
