Facebook is making real its promise of making the internet
accessible to the vast part of the world in the nearest future
by providing access to free internet data for all on the
strength of drones technology.
The leading technology company launched the Free Basics
service yesterday in Nigeria, a platform that will provide
access to mobile websites and services to internet users for
free. Unlike most parts of the world, Free Basics will rely on
the capacity of Telecom services operators in Nigeria to
offer more than 85 free services dedicated to health,
education, jobs, and finance to users.
This include Facebook Flex by Airtel Nigeria, which will allow
people to access a version of Facebook without data
charges.
Meanwhile, Facebook has announced that it is presently
working on improving the Terragraph code of the free WiFi
project in order to make it faster and more efficient. These
efforts aims at making 7 Giga Byte Per Seconds (GBPS)
data signal stronger and equally efficient in different parts
of the world. This follows the discovery that the connection
degrades when there’s a nearby object blocking its path.
Industry observers are of the opinion that the free internet
platform is capable of improving the data usage experience
of Nigerians especially in the areas of network quality,
pricing and coverage. This follows the incessant cries by
customers that value for money is not given by the present
service providers in the country.
However, there are fears that the development may cripple
the economy of Mobile Network Service Operators whose
business model is gradually migrating from voice calls to
data usage in an increasingly data-driven market. What is
left to be seen is if regulators will kill the project with
restrictions to the benefit of operators or allow it unfettered
access to their detriment. Already, Airtel allows free viewing
of Facebook, with restrictions to images, which you can only
view when you switch to the data mode.
Join bliszblog on BBM channels : C003452E0
No comments:
Post a Comment