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0.facebook.com Offers Free Mobile Access to Emerging Markets

by Amar Toor on May 19, 2010 at 10:05 AM

0.facebook.com logoFacebook has taken a lot of heat recently for its revamped privacy policy and invasive Instant Personalization service. The company may have gotten a much-needed PR boost, though, thanks to a new service aimed at helping some of the world's less connected populations.

As the social networking site announced on its blog yesterday, users in 45 different countries and territories will now be able to access Facebook from their mobile phones, without having to worry about hefty data charges. The site, called 0.facebook.com, offers all the rudimentary features of Facebook's mobile app, like updating statuses, sending messages and commenting on posts. The only difference, however, is that if you want to browse through photos on your phone, you'll have to pay normal data fees.

Unfortunately for U.S. users, the service isn't yet available Stateside -- although Facebook's Henri Mossinac told Reuters that he's optimistic about an eventual U.S. launch. Fortunately for the developing world, though, the cost-efficient mobile site will be available in a few major emerging economies, including India, Brazil and Indonesia, among others. "We are targeting people whose major barrier is they have little experience on the mobile Internet. They want to try it, they want something super simple, super fast. And they are potentially afraid of browsing costs," Mossinac explains. "If you take an iPhone user in San Francisco, that's not his problem." And with a growing number of the world's poor relying on their cell phones for personal banking and microfinance purposes, it's entirely possible that Facebook's new service could help fortify those critically important connections -- and end up doing a lot of good for the people who need it most. [From: Facebook and Reuters]

Tags: 0.facebook.com, data, DataCharges, developing, EmergingMarkets, facebook, FacebookMobile, free, mobile, mobileapp, SocialNetworking, top, web

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