Reportedly, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to defend Facebook Inc.’s FB Free Basics Services in India has gained tremendous public support.
Free Basics Services, a part of the Internet.org project, is Facebook’s effort to provide free access to Internet across 19 emerging markets of South East Asia, Latin America and Africa.
As per a Bloomberg report, nearly 56% of the responses from Facebook’s @supportfreebasics.in, received by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), defended Free Basics while majority of the responses received through @facebookmail.com were also positive. However, TRAI added that the responses were templated in nature and refrained from commenting as to how it would be utilized for the review process. In fact, it has asked for more elaborate opinions from both the social service giant as well as the public.
In December, TRAI had asked Facebook’s operator partner, Reliance Communications, to “put on hold” Facebook’s Free Basics services in the country for the time being as it assesses whether the service conforms to the net neutrality principle.
Net neutrality implies an open-Internet atmosphere, which will prohibit ISPs, especially telecom and cable TV operators, from discriminating against applications.
However, Zuckerberg has been heavily defending the Free Basics service in India and elsewhere. He had earlier said that Facebook totally agrees with the net neutrality principle but at the same time, he advocated “that if people can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access and voice than none at all.”
Recently, he had written an article in one of the leading dailies, defending the service. He stated “This isn’t about Facebook’s commercial interests – there aren’t even any ads in the version of Facebook in Free Basics. If people lose access to free basic services, they will simply lose access to the opportunities offered by the internet today.” Facebook even began a marketing campaign (which seems to have worked) in the country to find public support for its Free Basics initiative.
Facebook is trying desperately to not lose any ground in India. The country’s demographic strength offers immense potential for growth, especially because of the rapid adoption of smartphones. By the end of this year, according to Forbes, Internet users in the country will cross the 400-million milestone. It will thus surpass the United States to become the world’s second largest Internet market. This projection does not include 1.2 billion Indians without Internet connectivity. The Indian government has launched a massive Digital India program to take technology to the rural masses and further increase technology adoption.
Moreover, Facebook has over 130 million users in India, making the country its second biggest market after the U.S. In fact, as per an eMarketer report, MAUs in India are expected to grow to 211.2 million by 2018 while mobile Facebook users in the country will increase to 145.9 million by 2017, surpassing the U.S.
Currently, Facebook is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock. Other stocks worth considering include Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Qunar Cayman Islands Limited QUNR and MeetMe, Inc. MEET. All these sport a Zacks Rank #1 as well.
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