If you thought that Mark Zuckerberg was just a whiz kid who founded the social network site Facebook (FB, Financial), it will only be the half-truth. Zuckerberg is a man who not only gave the world a platform like no other; he also has a sharp business acumen that cries genius. He not only marketed, packaged and sold FB to the consumers; he is now heading into lesser known territories to expand his business.
New initiative
In association with Reliance telecom service provider, FB launched the internet.org in India, a project hailed by Facebook's principal founder and current CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a tool to connect people. With 1.2 billion people, India has the second-largest population with an emerging market. As a third-world country with enough bandwidth to tide over recession without going bankrupt, it is a market for the taking. Identifying the potential in third world countries where the industry is fairly unexplored, for FB to become a major stakeholder in the digital field, Zuckerberg is going all out to establish himself as a major player.
Launched on August 20, 2013, Zuckerberg released a 10-page white paper on his vision. He later went on to add that acquisition of mobile messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion was part of this vision. The launch in India on February 10, the first country in Asia to get the Android app, was followed after internet.org was set up in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Columbia and Ghana. With a boom in mobile sales, India has the world's third-largest population of Internet users, and could climb a spot this year.
What is internet.org?
To tap into the huge populace still without access in emerging economies, internet.org is a partnership between Facebook and six mobile phone companies – Samsung (SSNLF, Financial), Ericsson (ERIC, Financial), MediaTek, Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), Opera Software (OPESF, Financial), and Qualcomm (QCOM, Financial). The main aim is to make the digital space affordable and easily accessible to those subscribing to the above mentioned phone companies.
The internet.org aims to connect telecom subscribers to free internet services of 33 websites. The services span across several sphere of interest including news websites; educational ones such as Wikipedia, Translator, wikiHow; sports websites; health and welfare ones such as BabyCentre, iLearn, Socialblood and more. Aimed at low-income and rural users, the app comes in different regional languages to break the language barrier in accessing the net.
FB claimed the app to be its way of contributing towards society. Zuckerberg believes that when more people have access to the internet, it will reduce censorship, voice opinions and also curb corrupt practices. The app, however, predictably offers access to only one social platform, the Facebook.
Is it all about business?
Certain critics have refused to buy into Zuckerberg’s humanitarian pitch. They claim, and rightly so, that it cannot all be for the sake to connecting people and giving them a voice. The fact that FB is launching in developing nations, is not because the citizens have no access to the net, it is primarily because the markets are free of competition and ready to be reaped by a potential party. To create a space for itself in the U.S. or European markets, which is already saturated by rival companies, FB would have to spend a lot more money, time and energy.
Also, such countries have a large population deprived of the digital world and hungry for it. There is more enthusiasm among consumers, almost like an addiction. The internet.org is not only beneficial to FB but also it’s partnering mobile network. As consumers get hooked on to the internet, there will be a surge in demand for mobile phones, data packages and higher usages. Moreover, the fact that FB has made the app available to only one mobile connection in each country hints at an attempt to monopolise the market.
Connecting millions
Whether it is to make money or bring about a change, FB’s initiative will definitely try to permeate the different social and cultural strata and connect people. The diversification will help to reach out to a wider cross-section of people which LinkedIn (LNKD, Financial) or Twitter (TWTR) can’t. It is this ability of Zuckerberg to spot an opportunity and jump in by aggressively marketing itself that led to the death of other social networking sites like now-defunct Orkut. In a way, FB cashed in on it social networking capacity, evolving into a company which adapts with changing time.
