Internet.org

Internet.org logo

Internet.org is a highly controversial [1] partnership between social networking services company Facebook and six companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm) that plans to bring affordable access to selected Internet services to less developed countries by increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models around the provision of Internet access.[2][3]

It has been criticized for violating net neutrality, and by handpicking internet services that are included, for discriminating against companies not in the list, including Facebook's rivals.[4][5] An Indian journalist, in his reply to Mark Zuckerberg's article defending Internet.org in India, criticized Internet.org as "being just a Facebook proxy targeting India's poor" as it provides restricted Internet access to Reliance Telecom's subscribers in India.[6] Until April 2015, Internet.org users could access (for free) only a few websites, and Facebook's role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were in that list was criticised for violating net neutrality. In May 2015, Facebook announced that the Internet.org Platform would be opened to websites that met its criteria.[7]

In September 2015, the app delivering these services was renamed Free Basics.[8]

In February 2016, regulators banned the Free Basics service in India based on "Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations".[9]

History

Launch

Internet.org was launched on August 20, 2013.[3][10][11] At the time of launch, Facebook's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a ten-page whitepaper he had written elaborating on the vision.[12] In the paper, he wrote that Internet.org was a further step in the direction of Facebook's past initiatives, such as Facebook Zero, to improve Internet access for people around the world. He also said that "connectivity is a human right." A TechCrunch article about the launch compared Internet.org with Google's Project Loon.[3]

Participants

Below is a selective history of launch dates and participating mobile networks:

Timeline

Year Month and date (if available) Event type Event
2013 August 20 Launch, vision Internet.org is launched with a whitepaper from Mark Zuckerberg that asserts that connectivity is a human right.[3][10][11]
2013 September 11 Vision Zuckerberg elaborates on his vision further in a video for TechCrunch Disrupt on September 11, 2013.[32]
2013 September 16 Vision Facebook and Internet.org detail some "1000X" futuristic technologies to move in the direction of their goal of universal affordable Internet access.[33][34][35]
2013 September 30 Vision Zuckerberg releases a video explaining Internet.org's goal of making the Internet 100X more affordable.[36]
2014 February 24 New projects, vision Shortly before a keynote presentation by Zuckerberg at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24, 2014, Internet.org unveils several new projects: an education partnership called SocialEDU with Nokia and local carrier AirTel, edX, and the government in Rwanda; a project with Unilever in India; and a new Internet.org Innovation Lab with Ericsson in its Menlo Park HQ.[37] In the presentation, Zuckerberg says that Facebook's recent acquisition of mobile messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion was closely related to the Internet.org vision.[38][39][40] According to a TechCrunch article, Zuckerberg's vision for Internet.org was as follows: "The idea, he said, is to develop a group of basic internet services that would be free of charge to use — "a 911 for the internet." These could be a social networking service like Facebook, a messaging service, maybe search and other things like weather. Providing a bundle of these free of charge to users will work like a gateway drug of sorts — users who may be able to afford data services and phones these days just don’t see the point of why they would pay for those data services. This would give them some context for why they are important, and that will lead them to paying for more services like this — or so the hope goes."[38]
2014 early March Potential acquisition There are rumors that Facebook is buying drone maker Titan Aerospace for $60 million, in order to further its vision with Internet.org, and that the drones would play a role similar to the balloons in Google's Project Loon.[41][42]
2014 March 27 New projects Facebook announces a Connectivity Lab as part of the Internet.org initiative, with the goal of bringing the Internet to everybody via drones, acquired from Ascenta.[43][44][45][46] There was no mention of the rumored acquisition of Titan Aerospace in the announcement.[44] It is also communicated by the Connectivity Lab, that, besides using drones, low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites would also be part of the project, for establishing internet connectivity in other areas. All three systems would rely on free space optics (FSO). In free space optics, the signal is sent in a compact bundle of infrared light[47]
2014 April 30 Tools It is announced that Internet.org would let f8 developers test their apps on a simulated low-bandwidth network.[48]
2014 October 9 Contest At the first Internet.org summit in New Delhi, Zuckerberg announced that Internet.org is launching a contest with a $1 million prize, with the goal of making people in India want the web.[49][50]
2014 October 12 Tools Internet.org announces that it is working with carriers to analyze and improve their network performance to benefit their users, and that it had started by working with carriers in Indonesia.[51]
2015 March 2 Partnership, competition At the Mobile World Congress, Mark Zuckerberg says that the Internet.org initiative is "willing to work" with Project Loon (Google's project to use high-altitude balloons to provide people cheaper Internet access) but emphasizes that in his view, the real work is in partnering with existing telecommunications companies to improve access and reduce costs for people already within range of a network, which he estimates at over 80% of the population.[52][53]
2015 April 15 Negative reaction Some Indian startups start pulling out of internet.org to protect net neutrality.[54][55][56]
2015 May 4 Platform Facebook announces the Internet.org Platform, an open program for developers to easily create services that integrate with Internet.org. Participating websites must meet three criteria: (1) Explore the entire internet (so as to give users a taste of the wider Internet and therefore help them see the value of the Internet), (2) Efficiency of data use (so that it would be economical for carriers to allow free access to the websites), and (3) Technical specifications: optimized for browsing on a wide range of devices including smartphones and less sophisticated mobile devices, and should not be dependent on Javascript or HTTPS.[57] This is seen by commentators as a response to concerns raised over net neutrality.[7]
2015 October acquisition Facebook and Eutelsat lease the entire Ka-band capacity (36 spot beams with a total throughput of 18 Gbit/s) on the planned Amos-6 satellite to provide access to parts of Africa[58][59]
2016 January 20 Negative reaction Search giant Google has exited Facebook's Free Basics platform in Zambia. They were included in the initial trial of this project, which was first launched in Zambia.[60]
2016 January 21 Negative reaction the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) criticizes and rebukes Facebook for it's misleading commercials and Astroturfing the Free Basics campaign. TRAI has accused Facebook of failing to pass on the four questions in the regulator's consultation paper and also blocking access to TRAI's designated email for feedback on Free Basics.[61][62]
2016 February 8 Negative reaction TRAI bans the Free Basics service in India based on "Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016" notification.[9]
2016 February 11 Negative reaction Facebook withdraws the Free Basics platform from India after it got banned by the "Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016" notification.[63]

Internet.org summit

The first Internet.org summit was held on 9 October 2014 in New Delhi, India. The primary objective of this summit was to bring together experts, officials and industry leaders to focus on ways to deliver more Internet services for people in languages other than English. Zuckerberg also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about how Facebook and the Indian government can collaborate on Internet.org.[64][65][66][67]

Reception

Discussion in the context of general efforts to improve global Internet access

An article published on Datamation in August 2013 discussed Internet.org in relation to past accessibility initiatives by Facebook and Google such as Facebook Zero, Google Free Zone, and Project Loon.[68]

In December 2013, David Talbot wrote a detailed article for Technology Review titled Facebook's Two Faces: Facebook and Google Aim to Fix Global Connectivity, but for Whom? about Internet.org and other Internet accessibility initiatives.[69]

Internet.org and Project Loon have been described as being engaged in an Internet space race.[70][71][72]

There have also been technical debates about the relative feasibility and value of using balloons (as championed by Project Loon) instead of drones,[70] with Mark Zuckerberg favoring drones.[73]

The focus on futuristic technologies has been described by some commentators as "sheer technologist fantasy",[74] a position with which Zuckerberg came to agree in March 2015 when he said that the focus should be on working with traditional telecommunications companies to improve and streamline their services and reduce costs rather than on futuristic technologies.[53]

User experience research

In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes information and communication technologies (ICT)[75][76] 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, and 61% of Indonesians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet" compared with only 5% in the US.[77]

Accusations of violation of net neutrality principles

On 15 April 2015 several partners of the Indian Internet.org program quit due to what they perceived as Facebook's violation of net neutrality.[54][55][56] Cleartrip said it was impossible to pretend there is no conflict of interest.[78]

After a lot of criticism of Internet.org which has partnership with Reliance in India, Mark Zuckerberg replied in an article for Hindustan Times stating that Internet.org and net neutrality can co-exist and Internet.org will never differentiate between services.[79] His claims were contested by many response articles, including one published in the Hindustan Times.[6][80] In May 2015, the Internet.org Platform, open to participation by any developers meeting specified guidelines, was announced. Some commentators viewed this announcement as a response to the net neutrality concerns expressed.[7] The PM of India's Office has expressed displeasure at Facebook's reaction to and handling of TRAI's consultation paper, calling it a crudely majoritarian and orchestrated opinion poll.[81]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "TRAI ruling on Net Neutrality". Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Internet.org: About". Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Constine, Josh (August 20, 2013). "Facebook And 6 Phone Companies Launch Internet.org To Bring Affordable Access To Everyone". Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Blow To Internet.org As Indian Internet Companies Begin To Withdraw". Huffington Post. April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/20/internet-dot-org-indonesia/
  6. 1 2 Murthy, Mahesh (April 17, 2015). "Internet.org is just a Facebook proxy targeting India’s poor". FirstPost. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Facebook Opens Internet.Org To All Developers In Response To Net Neutrality Concerns". TechCrunch. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Facebook Rebrands Internet.Org App As "Free Basics"". Fast Company. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  9. 1 2 3 "India blocks Facebook Free Basics internet scheme". BBC. 8 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 Farr, Christina (August 20, 2013). "Mark Zuckerberg and Malay Bhayani launches Internet.org to connect ‘the next 5 billion’". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Schroeder, Stan (August 21, 2013). "Zuckerberg Wants to Bring the Whole Planet Internet Access". Mashable. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Zuckerberg, Mark (August 20, 2013). "Is Connectivity a Human Right?" (PDF). Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ Guy Rosen, Product Management Director (31 July 2014). "Introducing the Internet.org App". Internet.org.
  14. ↑ David Cohen (29 October 2014). "Internet.org App Launches in Tanzania". Adweek.
  15. ↑ Federico Guerrini (13 November 2014). "Facebook's Internet.Org App Launches In Kenya - Just Don't Call It Philanthropy". Forbes.
  16. ↑ Owen Williams (14 January 2015). "Facebook’s Internet.org app launches in Colombia". The Next Web.
  17. ↑ Lilian Mutegi (26 January 2015). "Ghana: Facebook, Airtel Partner to Bring Internet.org APP to Ghana". AllAfrica (Nairobi). Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Facebook Takes Internet.org And Its Free Mobile Data Services To India". TechCrunch. 10 February 2015.
  19. ↑ "Facebook and Smart’s Talk ‘N text bring basic Internet mobile service without the charge".
  20. ↑ "FACEBOOK LAUNCHES INTERNET.ORG IN GUATEMALA, MOVES TO NEW OFFICES IN CALIFORNIA". 7 April 2015.
  21. ↑ Russell, John (April 20, 2015). "Under Fire In India, Facebook’s Internet.org Launches In Indonesia". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Internet.org to be launched today". The Daily Star. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  23. ↑ Facebook's free internet service expands to Malawi // EnGadget.com, 2015-05-14
  24. ↑ UrduPoint.com
  25. ↑ Mutegi, Lilian (5 June 2015). "Senegal: Facebook, Tigo Partner to Bring Internet.org to Senegal". AllAfrica / CIO East Africa (Nairobi). Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  26. ↑ Posted on Mark Zuckerberg's Official Facebook Profile
  27. ↑ lostiempos.com (Spanish)
  28. ↑ posetd on Mark Zuckerberg's Official Facebook Profile
  29. ↑ https://www.cellc.co.za/explore/services/internetorg
  30. ↑ "Facebook's free internet service has been shut down in Egypt". The Verge.
  31. ↑ "Free Basics". Korek Telecom.
  32. ↑ Constine, Josh (September 11, 2013). "Zuckerberg’s Manifest Destiny: Connecting The 5 Billion People Without Internet". Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Focusing on Efficiency". Facebook. September 16, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  34. ↑ Constine, Josh (September 16, 2013). "Facebook And Internet.org Detail "1000X" Technologies They Hope Will Bring Earth Online". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  35. ↑ Berkman, Frank (September 16, 2013). "Facebook Spearheads Effort for Global Internet Access". Mashable. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  36. ↑ Kerr, Dara (September 30, 2013). "Zuckerberg: Let's make the Internet 100x more affordable: Working with his Internet.org partners, Facebook's CEO outlines what needs to be done to drop the cost of Web access worldwide.". CNet. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  37. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (February 24, 2014). "Facebook-Led Internet.org Partners With Nokia On SocialEDU In Rwanda, Unilever In India, Ericsson On New Lab To Connect Developing Economies". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  38. 1 2 Lunden, Ingrid (February 24, 2014). "WhatsApp Is Actually Worth More Than $19B, Says Facebook’s Zuckerberg, And It Was Internet.org That Sealed The Deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  39. ↑ Fitzsimmons, Michelle (February 24, 2014). "Mark Zuckerberg: WhatsApp is worth more than $19 billion". Techradar. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Zuckerberg takes long view with WhatsApp, Internet". Associated Press. February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  41. ↑ Perez, Sarah (March 3, 2014). "Facebook Looking Into Buying Drone Maker Titan Aerospace". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  42. ↑ Perez, Sarah (March 4, 2014). "Why Would Titan Aerospace Sell To Facebook? Because Investors Weren’t Biting". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  43. ↑ "Announcing the Connectivity Lab at Facebook". Internet.org. March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  44. 1 2 Constine, Josh (March 27, 2014). "Facebook Will Deliver Internet Via Drones With "Connectivity Lab" Project Powered By Acqhires From Ascenta". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  45. ↑ Constine, Josh (March 27, 2014). "Facebook Joins Google In The Hunt For The Future". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  46. ↑ Metz, Cade (March 27, 2014). "Facebook Will Build Drones and Satellites to Beam Internet Around the World". Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  47. ↑ Internet.org using free space optics
  48. ↑ Constine, Josh (April 30, 2014). "Internet.org Lets f8 Developers Test Apps On A Simulated Low-Bandwidth Network". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  49. ↑ Constine, Josh (October 9, 2014). "Internet.org Offers $1M Prize For Apps That Make People In India Want The Web". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Internet.org Summit Addresses the Content Barrier". Facebook (Newsroom). October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  51. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (October 12, 2014). "Facebook’s Internet.org Works With Carriers To Speed Up Networks, Indonesia First". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  52. ↑ Constine, Josh (March 2, 2015). "Zuck Says "Sure", Facebook Would Love To Work With Google On Global Internet Access". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  53. 1 2 Ramli, David (March 3, 2015). "Mark Zuckerberg shuns Google's Project Loon to focus on 'real work'". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  54. 1 2 Popper, Ben (April 15, 2015). "Indian startups are pulling out of Facebook's Internet.org to protect net neutrality. A groundswell of concern over providing certain apps free of charge". The Verge. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  55. 1 2 Weinberger, Matt (April 15, 2015). "Indian tech companies are pulling out of Facebook's Internet.org campaign over net neutrality violations". Business Insider. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  56. 1 2 Hutton, Christopher (April 16, 2015). "Internet.org and India: Companies Pulling Out Of Facebook's Non-profit Service Amid Net Neutrality Concerns A number of Indian internet providers have pulled out of Internet.org's free internet initiative, claiming they're doing it for Net Neutrality reasons.". hngn.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  57. ↑ "Announcing the Internet.org Platform". Facebook. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  58. ↑ http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/05/technology/facebook-africa-satellites/index.html?sr=tw100615facebook-africa-satellites0215AMStory&linkId=17710503
  59. ↑ Peter B. de Selding (6 October 2015). "Facebook, Eutelsat To Pay Spacecom $95M for Ka-band Lease". Spacenews. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  60. ↑ Kim Arora (20 January 2016). "Google bids adieu to Facebook's Free Basics in Zambia". Times of India. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  61. ↑ Tech Desk (21 January 2016). "Facebook ‘I support Free Basics’ campaign is wholly misplaced, says TRAI". Indian Express. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  62. ↑ Simon Sharwood (21 January 2016). "India just about accuses Facebook of faking Free Basics fandom". The Register. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  63. ↑ "Facebook withdraws the controversial 'Free Basics' platform from India". Times of India. 11 February 2016.
  64. ↑ "Mark Zuckerberg to meet PM Narendra Modi tomorrow". Deccan Chronicle (via PTI). October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  65. ↑ "Mark Zuckerberg to meet Narendra Modi: Schedule of the Internet.org summit". India.com. October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  66. ↑ "Facebook CEO in India: Key highlights of the Modi-Zuckerberg meeting". FirstPost (via PTI). Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  67. ↑ "Mark Zuckerberg addresses the first Internet.org summit in New Delhi; to meet PM Modi on October 10". IBNLive.com. October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  68. ↑ Elgan, Mike (August 21, 2013). "Facebook and Google: "We're Going to Need a Bigger Internet"". Datamation. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  69. ↑ Talbot, David (December 17, 2013). "Facebook's Two Faces". Technology Review. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  70. 1 2 Edwards, Luke (March 27, 2015). "The internet space race is on: Google Loon vs Facebook drones vs SpaceX satellites". Pocket Lint. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  71. ↑ O'Brien, Chris (March 5, 2015). "In the race between Google and Facebook over global connectivity, everyone is winning". VentureBeat. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  72. ↑ Elgan, Mike (December 6, 2014). "Why Google and Facebook need balloons, drones and rockets". ComputerWorld. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  73. ↑ "Drones vs. balloons: Zuckerberg explains why wings are better for the internet than helium". GigaOm. March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  74. ↑ "The pitfalls and promise of Internet.org and Project Loon". Bullish Data. August 13, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  75. ↑ Andersen, Maria (Aug 29, 2014). "Is Facebook Zero the Future of Public Internet Access". ICT Works.
  76. ↑ "ICT Works". Resource for sharing and expanding knowledge on appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) and the implementation processes that can make them sustainable in rural and underserved communities across the developing world
  77. ↑ Leo Mirani (9 Feb 2015). "Millions of Facebook users have no idea they’re using the internet".
  78. ↑ "Blow To Internet.org As Indian Internet Companies Begin To Withdraw". HuffPost India. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  79. ↑ Zuckerberg, Mark (April 17, 2015). "Mark Zuckerberg to HT: Net neutrality and universal connectivity must co-exist". Hindustan Times. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  80. ↑ SaveTheInternet.in coalition (April 17, 2015). "Dear Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is not, and should not be the internet". Hindustan Times. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  81. ↑ Anandita Singh Mankotia (February 4, 2016). "PMO displeased with Facebook's reaction to Trai's consultation paper". The Economic Times. Retrieved February 4, 2016.

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