social network giant, Facebook, has launched its Free Basics
service in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country—and its biggest
market on the continent. The platform which allows users to access
listed websites at no cost was launched in partnership with Airtel, the
country’s third largest telecoms operator with almost 34 million
subscribers.
Free Basics is part of Facebook’s internet.org initiative which aims
to provide internet access to the two-thirds of the world without it and
the company says the project has helped bring 25 million people online
globally. In Nigeria, where it has 16 million users, the high price of
data remain an impediment to internet access despite growing smartphone
penetration.
Facebook says it will work with developers in Nigeria who can build
sites with local content which will improve the platform’s relevance to
the local audience. Already listed on Free Basics is Jobberman—Nigeria’s
biggest jobs portal. In a post, Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook was eager
to offer “the opportunity to access news, health information and
services like Jobberman that were built by Nigerians” without having to
pay.
0 Comments