Facebook and a group of partners that includes Ericsson, Noka and Samsung have launched an initiative called internet.org that aims to bring internet access to everyone in the world.
Here is how the initiative will work at a high level, according to a press release announcing its launch:
The founding members of internet.org — Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung — will develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online. These founding companies have a long history of working closely with mobile operators and expect them to play leading roles within the initiative, which over time will also include NGOs, academics and experts as well. Internet.org is influenced by the successful Open Compute Project, an industry-wide initiative that has lowered the costs of cloud computing by making hardware designs more efficient and innovative.
Among the types of efforts they’ll undertake are making access more affordable via less-expensive devices and broader mobile networks; improving the efficiency of data handling at the application, network and server levels; and experimenting with new business models that incentivize carriers and device manufacturers to offer lower prices.
The internet.org press release notes that just more than one-third of the world’s population currently has access to the internet, and that adoption is growing by a mere 9 percent a year.
I will be speaking with Facebook shortly and will update this story with additional details.
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