Facebooks’s Internet.org to Bring Internet to Africa

Yet another awesome step forward for global connectivity, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has cemented his last year claim that a specialised team are working on building drones, lasers and satellites to deliver internet to everyone; today at the Mobile World Congress.

During his presentation, he spent a substantial amount of time discussing the Facebook-backed nonprofit Internet.org, which aims to bring free internet access to four African countries, along with Columbia and India.

“We’re working on it,” Zuckerberg said. “When we have that stuff, the goal is to form the same type of partnerships we have today with our partners to give people more tools to connect. Some of the technology we have today isn’t cost effective… just because we’re working on plans and satellites doesn’t mean that that is the type of stuff that will do it. Over the next five to 10 years, there will be a lot of innovation. People like talking about that kind of stuff because it’s sexy, but it’s not the big bit”

This seems oh so familiar to the earlier presentation from Google’s Senior VP Sundar Pichai (found here), who stated that they are also gearing up to launch solar-powered, internet giving drones in certain countries later this year. When asked about a possible collaboration with Google, his response was “Sure. I’d love to do more with them”.Internet.org first launched in Zambia, teaming up with a local operating partner and incorporated Google search, calling it an “important tool.”

Probably the most profound statement from his presentation “To grow the Internet is expensive… we want to make progress.”

Thanks to Mashable for supplying this information