Or, at least that is what he says in so many words. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addressed the Mobile World Congress and apparently was eager to patch things up with telecom providers who fear Facebook is messing up their business model with initiatives like internet.org.
The aim of internet.org is to spread connectivity to places where many people have previously not had internet access. Far from becoming irrelevant, Zuckerberg said telecom companies are still the main players in providing service and far from losing business to internet.org, the initiative might actually generate revenues for the operators.
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According to Totaltele.com, Zuckerberg told the audience, “The real companies driving this are the operators.” Internet.org won’t be stealing the fire from telecoms, but he said, “In many cases, ARPU goes up.”
Christian de Faria, CEO of Bharti Airtel Africa, who offers internet.org in four countries said, according to Totaltele.com, “(it’s like) beauty and the beast. I think the beast is becoming more human … There has not been a cannibalization of revenue. It is also for me an acquisition tool, ” de Faria said, and aids in growing the subscriber base.
