Facebook and Reliance collaboration bring Internet.org in India

Facebook has hosted the first ever Inrernet.org summit in New Delhi late last year. Facebook has tied-up with Reliance communication and bring the Internet.org to India on 10^th February.  Internet.org will provide the access over popular websites and services without charging for it through 2G and 3G network used by the billions of the users in India.

Facebook’s collaboration with Reliance Communication (RCom) will bring the free Internet access for the users of six states of India for time being. Reliance users from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana can access free Internet services from their smartphones as well as feature phones.

RCom users from these regions now have the free access of different services and websites including news, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports, communication and local government information websites. All these services are available in local languages. Android phone users can access this from the Internet.org Android Application and other users can use it directly by accessing website Internet.org from mobile web browser. You need to either log on to www.internet.org or call on 1800 300 25353 to activate the service.

Here is the list of the services that RCom users can access for free.

• Aaj Tak – Read news in Hindi
• AccuWeather – Get updated weather information
• amarujala.com – Read news in Hindi
• AP Speaks – Engage with local government
• Babajob – Search for jobs
• BabyCenter & MAMA – Learn about pregnancy and children
• BBC News – Read news from around the world
• Bing Search – Find information
• Cleartrip – Check train and flight schedules & buy tickets
• Daily Bhaskar – Read local news
• Dictionary.com – Search for meanings of words
• ESPN Cricinfo – Get cricket updates
• Facebook – Communicate with friends and family
• Facts for Life – Find health and hygiene information
• Girl Effect – Read articles and tips for girls
• HungamaPlay – Listen to music
• IBNLive – Read news
• iLearn – Learn from Women Entrepreneurs
• India Today – Read local news
• Internet Basics – Learn about the basics of the Internet
• Jagran – Read local news
• Jagran Josh – Get education and career information
• Maalai Malar – Read news in Tamil
• Maharashtra Times – Read news in Marathi
• Malaria No More – Learn about malaria
• manoramanews.com – Read local news
• Messenger – Send messages to friends and family
• NDTV – Read news
• Newshunt – Read news in English
• OLX – Buy and sell products and services
• Reliance Astrology – Read your horoscope
• Reuters Market Lite – Get farming and crop information
• Socialblood – Register to donate blood
• Times of India – Read news
• TimesJobs – Search for jobs
• Translator – Translate words and phrases
• Wikipedia – Find information
• wikiHow – Find information

According to the early review of the internet.org in India, users have found it very useful and easy to access. It is working a bit slow in feature phones, but working good in smart phones. Facebook has partnered with different websites to provide the basic Internet access to the users. That is the reason they have not included the full version of the Facebook and even their own messaging application WhatsApp in their basic 39 services. Users can check the Facebook news feed and even like and comment on the post, but they need to download the images to see it and download of the image is a paid service. You can see the blurred image if you don’t download it. In the same manner you can access all content-based information for free from all news and other partnered websites.

India is the sixth country to have internet.org service enabled following Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia and Ghana. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expecting more than a billion RCom users in India to get access through this service. Though they have enabled this service in six states only they are going to make it available in the whole country in 90 days. This is really a big step forward to connect everyone to the Internet and share their ideas with the whole world.