Facebook has announced that Free Basics, a programme that brings relevant basic internet services without data charges to people in growing countries, has now gone live.
The Free Basics platform now provides more than 60 new services across the 29 countries where Free Basic services are available, including 14 in Africa.
Mobile phone users in the African countries – Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal, Zambia, Ghana, Angola and Malawi, where Free Basics has been launched now have access to a set of websites and services with no data charges, in categories including maternal health, education, news updates, as well as local information.
Through the services offered on Free Basics such as maternal health and education, people’s lives have been positively impacted. For instance, SmartBusiness, a website that helps people learn to launch and run a business, now sees 5 times more daily searches within their service since launching in South Africa in July, meaning more people are getting access to important economic information.
Also, BabyCenter and MAMA both reach millions of people around the globe with vital health information for pregnancy and parenting, including 3.4 million people through Internet.org’s free basics services alone.
“When people are connected, they can achieve extraordinary things as individuals and as a community. Connectivity brings opportunity for people around the world, and we’ve seen this firsthand here in Africa, where we began this journey,” Director of strategic partnerships at Facebook, Ime Archibong said in a press release made available toTechLoy.
Free Basics by Facebook is now available to more than one billion people across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
If you’re a developer interested in submitting your service to be part of the Free Basics Platform, you can learn more on the developer page.
Free Basics is a set of basic websites and services such as free health, education and finance-related information to introduce people in developing countries to the internet and demonstrate how it adds value to their lives.
Source - Techloy
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