Reliance offers Facebook FreeBasics to all its subscribers

25th November 2015
Reliance offers Facebook FreeBasics to all its subscribers
Ganesh Nimbalkar and his wife Bharati... a case study for Free Basics impact

Bangalore,  November 25 2015: Starting today, all Reliance subscribers across India can  access free Internet, for limited basic services, via Facebook’s Free Basics.
Facebook CEO  Mark Zuckerberg  wrote in his blog post:
We just took another step towards connecting India.
As of today, everyone in India nationwide can access free internet services for health, education, jobs and communication through Internet.org's Free Basics app on the Reliance network.
Why does this matter?...
Just look at the story of Ganesh Nimbalkar and his wife Bharati, who support their family of four by farming a five acre plot their family has tended for generations in Maharashtra.
Ganesh struggled with traditional farming methods in a region plagued by droughts, but last year he started using Free Basics -- accessing services like AccuWeather, which helped him work better through the monsoon season, and Reuters Market Light, which helped him understand commodity prices and get a better deal for his crops.
By using Free Basics, Ganesh has doubled his crop yield, eradicated insect infestations and even invested in new crops and livestock.
Today, nearly 1 billion people are currently without internet access in India. Now with Internet.org's Free Basics available to everyone in India, many more people like Ganesh and Bharati will have access to the information and opportunity the internet brings.
Facebo
ok also tried to dispel anxieties about its free internet  initiative in a posting  on myths and facts