Facebook, Airtel join hands to provide 20,000 hotspots

A year after social networking major Facebook pulled the plug on Free Basics, it launched another product on Thursday under its internet.orgprogramme, called Express Wi-Fi.

It had tied-up with Bharti Airtel to launch as many as 20,000 hotspots.

While Facebook offered no details, it had planned similar tie-ups with other telcos, including Reliance Jio and Vodafone.

The companies were discussing with state governments and government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, to set up public Wi-Fi hotspots to offer internet services through public hotspots in rural parts  with Facebook handling the back-end technology and BSNL the on-ground work.

Unlike Free Basics that provided free access to selected websites, Express Wi-Fi worked on a 'paid' model and the access would not be restricted to any particular website.

Users would be able to log on to Wi-Fi hotspots and buy daily, weekly or monthly data packs.

Free Basics, which allowed access to selected websites, was launched in 2015 in partnership with Reliance Communications.

It was slammed by critics as violation of the principle of Net Neutrality, which advocated equal treatment of all internet traffic.

Facebook finally pulled the plug on the programme last February after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for net access based on content.

''India's population is about 1.3 billion people, but only 390 million are connected to the Internet. Express Wi-Fi is part of our global initiative and we want to expand Internet connectivity to underserved locations,'' Facebook Asia Pacific Head of Connectivity Solutions Munish Seth told PTI.

He added that Facebook was working with internet services providers (ISPs) and more than 500 local entrepreneur retailers.

Internet user base in the country had significantly increased in the last few years, helped by smartphones becoming more affordable and data prices falling, especially after the roll out of Reliance Jio's services.