Here’s an offer that might interest Canada’s mobile phone service providers.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is looking for three to five phone companies to partner with him in an initiative to provide free Internet service to people who cannot afford it.
Zuckerberg made this announcement yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. He extended the invitation just days after plunking more than $19 billion to snap up social media company WhatsApp Inc. The acquisition makes Facebook, the world’s largest social network.
Now, Zuckerber is looking for mobile carriers who would be willing to roll out networks and provide free data services to people who otherwise could not afford them.
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is one of the technology companies that are a member of Internet.org, a coalition of technology giants that aims to provide free “on-ramp” to the Internet globally.
The venture will not likely provide any profit for some time but eventually services such as social networking, messaging, food and weather information could provide revenue for the carriers, a report in the online business site Bloomberg.com said.
“I want to show that this model works, that’s why we’re looking for partners who are serious about this,” he said.