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Getting the next billion online with freenet and internet.org

To talk about internet and its importance in today’s time is like talking about how aviation or automobile industry has changed our lives over the years. Similarly, the internet has changed many a lives and will continue do so forever. But not everyone is as blessed and privileged like us, there is still a huge population of people who are not even aware of the term called Internet.

A shocking 2/3 of the World is still not connected to the Internet. So what can we do as responsible citizens to make sure that the power of internet reaches everyone out their? To be frank as individuals we can’t do much, but we can always support something called the FreeNet and internet.org and fuel the movement.

As a matter of fact, making the internet available to every person on earth is a goal too large and too important for any one company, group or government to solve alone. Everyone participating in Internet.org has come together to meet this challenge because they believe in the power of a connected world.

But to support something we need to know about it thoroughly. So let’s know about FreeNet and internet.org –

Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative bringing together technology leaders, nonprofits and local communities to connect the two thirds of the world that doesn’t have internet access.

Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web without fear of censorship. Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke, who defined Freenet’s goal as providing freedom of speech on the Internet with strong anonymity protection.

So what do you think is the reason as to why the so many people aren’t online yet?

  • Are the devices that can connect them to internet are too expensive?
  • The internet plans are too expensive for them?
  • There is no mobile networks in their areas?
  • The content being offered isn’t available in their local language?
  • People still don’t know what value the internet will bring to them and therefore never bothered about it
  • There is no power sources, or even if there is, it’s limited or costly
  • Existing networks can’t support large amounts of data

In spite of these issues, together we can remove these barriers and give the unconnected majority of the world the power to connect. And with each volunteer there are these relentless supporters:

  1. Ericsson – a world-leading provider of communications technology and services.
  2. MediaTek Inc. – a leading semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions.
  3. Opera – makes products that enable more than 350 million internet consumers to discover and connect with the content and services.
  4. Samsung – a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere through relentless innovation and discovery.
  5. Facebook – whose mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
  6. Nokia – a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world.
  7. Qualcomm – a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies.

As of now, internet.org (the app) is currently available to Airtel customers in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, Tigo customers in Colombia and Tanzania, and Reliance customers in India.

internet.org

A month ago, on the 10th of February – Facebook and Reliance Communications made the internet available to millions of people in India through the launch of the Internet.org app and free basic services that includes:

We are certain that with time many more giants will come forward to power the ‘Internet for all’ revolution and roll it out to other parts of the world.

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