14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook has partnered with several technology companies to try and improve Internet access, speed and availability around the world. The new initiative, under the Internet.org name, will focus on all aspects that can be improved, the technology, the business models and so on.
"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
[admark=1]"There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it," he added.
The goal of the initiative is to bring the Internet to the two thirds of the world's population that can't currently access or afford it, through any means necessary.
The company has teamed up with Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung to make this happen. Between them, they will work on cheaper phones, smarter technology and more incentives to get others involved.
One big goal is to make Internet access more affordable than it is today, on all fronts. On the one hand, phones, which will be the primary way most people will connect to the Internet, will have to get cheaper and better.
But the group will also work on improving network performance and bandwidth requirements, starting with more data efficient apps and continuing with better compression, better data caching and so on.
Finally, another goal is to get more businesses involved, by showing how they can make money from the Internet.
For now, the Internet.org website has been set up to provide info on the goals and what has been done so far. That said, while it sounds great on paper, the group doesn't really have anything to boast about just yet.
