Wikipedia Mobile Access Available at No Extra Cost in Africa and the Middle East

Orange and Wikimedia Foundation have just announced an agreement to provide the carrier’s customers with mobile access to Wikipedia at no data usage costs.

 

This is the first partnership between the two entities, but others may be announced in the future. Under agreement, Orange and the Wikimedia Foundation will provide more than 70 million carrier’s customers in Africa and the Middle East (AMEA) with free mobile access to Wikipedia.

 

Both companies agreed to gradually extend this partnership throughout 2012 across 20 African and Middle Eastern countries where Orange is among the leading carriers.

 

This agreement is part of a larger Wikimedia plan that aims to offer the mobile phone users around the world the possibility to access the Internet directly through their handsets.

 

“Wikipedia is an important service, a public good, and so we want people to be able to access it for free, regardless of what device they're using. This partnership with Orange will enable millions of people to read Wikipedia, who previously couldn't,” said Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation.

 

Starting this year, any Orange customer who has a mobile Internet option enabled on their phone will be able to access Wikipedia site using the integrated browser or the Orange widget.

 

The new agreement allows them to access the Wikipedia encyclopaedia services for as many times as they want and for as long as they need, at no extra charge. Obviously, as soon as users open another website, the carrier will start charging the data usage.

 

“Since we first partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation two years ago, we have remained committed to helping them spread knowledge to as many people in the world as possible. We're proud to once again be the Wikimedia Foundation's first partner in Africa and the Middle East,” concluded Stephanie Hospital, executive vice president, Orange Audience & Advertising division.