14 DAY TRIAL // Internet access may have become a basic human right in some parts of the world, but it's still a rare luxury in most places. Most people don't even have a computer, let alone internet access. But a lot of people have a phone, even if it's a simple feature phone – a lot more than those who have computers.
Browsing the full web on a feature phone is not feasible, but WAP sites and those optimized for this environment are an alternative.
Opera Mini is the browser of choice for these users, as it not only renders pages that their phones may not be able, but it does it faster while saving bandwidth.
But a phone and a browser are only parts of the equation; it's no good to have the tools to access the web if you can't pay for it. Bandwidth can be prohibitively expensive, even if with the frugal Opera Mini.
Which is why "zero-" type deals with carriers are very important, like the one Wikipedia just struck in Malaysia. Wikipedia got the carrier Digi to subsidize all traffic costs for access to the zero.wikipedia.org site, as long as users run Opera Mini.
Wikipedia Zero, as the name implies, tries to minimize bandwidth usage and is pretty bare bones and text-only. But it's access to the full knowledge packed in Wikipedia and it's free. The service is free with Digi in Malaysia and with Orange In Uganda and Tunisia.
Granted, that's not much of a coverage, but Wikipedia is not Facebook so it's harder to get carriers on board. Still, the nice thing about zero.wikipedia.org is that it's very, very lightweight so it's going to save you money even if it's not entirely free.
It's also bound to be very fast on any phone you use it. So if you're using a smartphone in places with very patchy connection, Wikipedia Zero may come in handy.