Free Basics

Free Basics, originally known as Internet.org, is a global initiative led by Facebook to bring Internet connectivity to "diverse, local communities". The project is combined effort between seven major telecommunication companies, including Ericsson, Mediatek, Opera, Samsung, facebook, Nokia, and Qualcomm.

Renamed in 2015 September, Free Basics was originally only the name of the app delivering the service.

The project's goal is that "Free Basics introduces people to the internet and they move on to explore the entire internet." Speaking on the project, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has said, "Connectivity can't only be a privilege for some of the rich and powerful; it needs to be something that everyone shares."

The non-profit has identified three major areas for exploration, including:

• Affordability: Supporters will work together to ensure access to the Internet isn't a barrier.
• Efficiency: Supporters will build and strengthen the infrastructure needed to keep the Internet stable.
• Business Models: Developers, mobile operators and device manufacturers will work together to introduce business models that give people more ways to go online."

Background

First Year of Operation

Free Basics marked its one-year anniversary in Zambia, where it first began working with the telecommunications company Airtel. Zuckerberg says this partnership allowed got "hundreds of thousands of people access to some basic services for health, education, jobs, communication".

At the time, Facebook was working with amore than a dozen mobile operators across 17 countries to give more than a billion people "access to relevant basic internet services without data charges".

Rebranding from Internet.org to Free Basics

In 2015 September, Internet.org was renamed "Free Basics by Facebook", to highlight the significance of its overhauls. With the renaming came a revamped website, moved from Internet.org to FreeBasics.com, and featuring options for location targeting. This allowed users in Asia, Africa, and Latin America could choose the serves they wishes to activate and access in their region.

The rebrand and new Free Basics app also supported secure HTTPS services, and included privacy language "so that users will know what data will be collected". Users were also given the option on the app or mobile web version to add a number of free services, provided from a list of more than 250 providers.

Criticisms & Controversies

Since its launch in 2013, several net neutrality activists have criticized Free Basics for its "zero rating", which is the preferential treatment of certain websites or streaming services, over others. This results in an uneven playing field, and magnifies barriers to access on the Internet. Facebook's initiative does this by providing 'Free Basics', a collection of sites that relay weather, health and local data for users.

India

When Facebook first began operations in India, only 15% of its population of 1.1 billion people had access to the internet. While Free Basics' potential in India seemed large, it was from the country in 2016 February, "discriminatory tariffs for data services", aka zero rating". This came after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) called for Reliance Communications, Facebook's Indian telecom partner, to stop Free Basics in 2015 December. In response, the company reportedly spent millions on advertising and had an op-ed published by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the Times of India.

This main criticism -- that Free Basics had a limited number of partners and only a single service provider -- was one that Facebook contested. According to Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org, "There is no exclusivity with Reliance in India. There are other telecom operators who are interested, but it seems the criticism has slowed down the conversation. Reliance is just our first partner in India and there are countries where we have multiple partners."

Facebook also noted that all developers are free to add to their apps to the Free Basics platform, as long as they met technical criteria. By 2015 September, over 30 Indian partners had signed up to offer services, such as English Dost, MeraDoctor, M-Kisan, My Rights, and SkyMet.

Egypt

Following the actions of India, at the end of 2015 December, Egypt also pulled the plug on Facebook, which had been launched two years prior with the local telecommunications company, Etisalat Egypt. Facebook estimated that this shutdown resulted in the loss of internet for 3 million people in Egypt. Etsilat Egypt and the Egyptian government declined to comment to AP about the shutdown.