Facebook Zero

**Facebook Zero** is an initiative undertaken by social networking service company Facebook in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as *zero-rate*) for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down text-only version of its mobile website (as opposed to the ordinary mobile website m.facebook.com that also loads pictures). The stripped-down version is available online only through providers who have entered the agreement with Facebook. Photos are not loaded by default. Users may still choose to view them by clicking through but regular data charges apply to photo use.

## History

Plans for Facebook Zero were first announced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2010 by Chamath Palihapitiya.

It was officially of launched on May 18, 2010 in collaboration with 50 mobile operators around the world.

## Carriers

Several carriers offer Facebook Zero:

* File:Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan: Zain Jordan
* File:Flag of Albania.svg Albania: Telekom Albania; Vodafone Albania
* File:Flag of Algeria.svg Algeria: Djezzy; Mobilis
* File:Flag of Angola.svg Angola: Unitel S.A.
* File:Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bangladesh: Grameenphone
* File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana: MASCOM
* File:Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon: MTN Group
* File:Flag of Canada.svg Canada: Freedom Mobile
* File:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia: Bonbon; Hrvatski Telekom; MultiPlus Mobile; Simpa; Tomato; Vipnet
* File:Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador: Movistar
* File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji: Digicel
* File:Flag of France.svg France: SFR
* File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany: E-Plus
* File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece: Vodafone Greece; WIND Hellas
* File:Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia: MagtiCom
* File:Flag of Guinea.svg Guinea: MTN Group
* File:Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia: XL Axiata
* File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya: Airtel Kenya
* File:Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo: iPKO
* File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia: DiGi
* File:Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco : Maroc Telecom
* File:Flag of Nepal.svg   Nepal: Ncell
* File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan:Telenor Pakistan;Zong Pakistan
* File:Flag of Palestine.svg Palestine : Jawwal
* File:Flag of Panama.svg Panama: Cable & Wireless Communications
* File:Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines: Smart
* File:Flag of Poland.svg Poland: Play
* File:Flag of Qatar.svg Qatar: Vodafone Qatar
* File:Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia : Saudi Telecom Company [1]
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa: CellC; Vodacom
* File:Flag of Suriname.svg Suriname: Digicel
* File:Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Trinidad and Tobago: Digicel
* File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom: Three
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Zimbabwe: Telecel Zimbabwe

## Reception and impact

An article by Christopher Mims in *Quartz* in September 2012 stated that Facebook Zero played a very important role in Facebook's expansion in Africa over the 18 months following the release of Facebook Zero, noting that data charges could be a significant component of mobile usage cost and the waiving of these charges reduced a significant disincentive for people in Africa to use Facebook.

Facebook Zero was also credited as the inspiration for a similar initiative undertaken by Wikipedia titled Wikipedia Zero.

Google Free Zone, a similar service launched by Google in November 2012, was viewed by Internet commentators as both inspired by and a potential challenge to Facebook Zero.

The *Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones* of Chile ruled that *Zero-rating* services like Wikipedia Zero, Facebook Zero, and Google Free Zone, that subsidize mobile data usage, violate net neutrality laws and had to end the practise by June 1, 2014.

In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes ICT use in the developing world found that 11% of Indonesians who said they used Facebook also said they did not use the Internet. 65% of Nigerians, 61% of Indonesians, and 58% of Indians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet" compared with only 5% in the US[*citation needed*].

## See also

* Free Basics by Facebook
* Alliance for Affordable Internet
* Facebook for SIM
* Google Free Zone
* Twitter Zero
* Wikipedia Zero

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Murlidhar, Sid (May 18, 2010). "Fast and Free Facebook Mobile Access with 0.facebook.com". Facebook. Retrieved January 15, 2014. [*dead link*]
2. ↑ "Facebook". MTN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
3. ↑ "Facebook Zero - free on 2degrees!". 2degrees. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
4. ↑ "Facebook Zero!". GrameenPhone. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
5. ↑ Wauters, Robin (February 16, 2010). "Facebook Launches Zero, A Text-Only Mobile Site For Carriers". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
6. ↑ "Services : Réseaux sociaux". *Djezzy* (in French). Retrieved October 2, 2016.
7. ↑ "Problemi sa 0.facebook.com" [Problems with 0.facebook.com]. *bonbon*. March 26, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
8. ↑ "Facebook Zero". *Hrvatski Telekom FAQ*. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
9. ↑ "Facebook zero". *MultiPlus Mobile*. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
10. ↑ "Besplatni Facebook" [Free Facebook]. *Simpa*. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
11. ↑ "Uvjeti korištenja besplatnog Facebooka Zero za Tomato korisnike bonova" [Free Facebook Zero Terms of Use for Tomato Prepaid Users]. *Tomato*. 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
12. ↑ "E-Plus Gruppe: Kostenloser Zugang zu Facebook".
13. ↑ "Vodafone Greece 0.Facebook".
14. ↑ "WIND Hellas 0.Facebook". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
15. ↑ "Ncell launches ‘Facebook Free’ offer under its ‘Internet for All’ theme". Ncell. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
16. ↑ "Facebook provides free internet access to Pakistani citizens". DAWN. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
17. ↑ "Use Facebook on Phones for Free With Mobilink Jazz, Jazba". *ProPakistani*. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
18. ↑ "Facebook Freebasics". *Zong Pakistan*.
19. ↑ "Zong brings free internet in partnership with Facebook". THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
20. ↑ "أهلاً بكم في شركة الاتصالات الخلوية الفلسطينية - جوال - افراد - ما هي خدمة زيرو فيس بوك ؟". *أهلاً بكم في شركة الاتصالات الخلوية الفلسطينية - جوال*. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
21. ↑ Consulji, Bianca (November 1, 2013). "Facebook Rolls Out Zero Data Charge Access in the Philippines". Mashable. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
22. ↑ "Facebook za ZERO bez reklam".
23. ↑ Mims, Christopher (September 24, 2012). "Facebook's plan to find its next billion users: convince them the internet and Facebook are the same". *Quartz*. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
24. ↑ "Mobile partnerships". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
25. ↑ Brian, Matt (May 27, 2012). "Wikipedia Zero expands into Asia, drops mobile data charges for 10m subscribers in Malaysia". *The Next Web*. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
26. ↑ Dillon, Conon (December 18, 2013). "Wikipedia Zero: free data if you can afford it". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
27. ↑ "Google Free Zone". Google Operating System blog (not affiliated with Google). October 25, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
28. ↑ Knowles, Jamillah (November 8, 2012). "The Philippines gets Facebook Zero-style free mobile access to Google services via Globe Telecom". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
29. ↑ Jana (December 3, 2012). "Google Free Zone: Google's Challenge to Facebook Zero". Retrieved January 15, 2014.
30. ↑ Deibert, April (February 19, 2013). "Google ‘Free Zone’ and Facebook ‘Zero’: Products Targeting Developing Populations". Innovation Series. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
31. ↑ Mirani, Leo (May 30, 2014). "Less than zero – When net neutrality backfires: Chile just killed free access to Wikipedia and Facebook". Quartz. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
32. ↑ McKenzie, Jessica (June 2, 2014). "Face Off in Chile: Net Neutrality v. Human Right to Facebook & Wikipedia". Retrieved July 2, 2014.
33. ↑ Leo Mirani (9 Feb 2015). "Millions of Facebook users have no idea they’re using the internet".

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