Avid facebook users across the world must be delighted by the introduction of Zero Facebook (0.facebook.com). This latest facility by the giant social network has key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed, is totally free thanks to the help from mobile phone operators.
It works such that when users click to view a photo or browse another mobile site, a notification page appears to confirm that they will be charged if they want to leave 0.facebook.com. Through the economic and speed benefits to users, the social network hopes to woo a fairy big chunk of the market, especially in Africa, who find data costs a barrier.
So far four mobile operators from nine African countries have collaborated with Facebook in this great venture. They are among the 50 operators in 45 countries that the online network has partnered with. This is a great milestone in the continent’s burgeoning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.
Africa has for years been regarded as a dark continent of the civilised world. Top on the list is the technological aspect, especially in terms of the availability and use of information and communication tools. The global digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world is alarming; with statistics showing that it has only 2.5 per cent of the world’s internet users.
The digital divide in this case is the distinct disparity in the use and advancement of technologies between Africa and the developed world. Several scholars have advanced the notion that the continent is in danger of isolation from the developed world if this situation persists.
Our beloved continent seems to be fairing below expectations when it comes to the digital divide due to rampant poverty. Many people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, live below-a-dollar-a-day and struggle even to get basic needs. Thus, the mention of information and communication tools such as mobile phones, computers and internet is considered as mere luxury.
Most countries are also known to have low bandwidth (the amount of data transmitted through a communications line) with quite a number of countries still using copper wire communications in core networks. This has occasioned several African governments to increasingly adopt fibre optic cables, which is the best carrier of high capacity bandwidth. This alternative method transmits information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fibre. These efforts are in a bid to bridge the widened digital divide.
In a continent that is punctuated by poor infrastructure, especially the lack of transport networks to install ICT infrastructure, efforts of technological advancement can face a major setback.
It is also quite evident that ICT growth tends to be concentrated only in big cities in these countries, thus the rural populace is left out in the sharing of information through avenues such as wireless technologies and mobile phones.
The fact that the number of people who are tech-savvy is low compared to the developed world where ICT tools such as computers and cell phones are available to children at an early age, does not help matters. On the other side of the continuum, the continent also faces rampant ‘brain drain’ so to speak. Many skilled people, especially the youth, have failed to find opportunities on the continent and have gone to offer their services to other regions of the world.
One of the major issues that was discussed at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland last year was the right to communicate. This entails guaranteeing everyone access to affordable communications tools. In relation to this, a big number of professionals in the information industry are for the idea that the internet ought to be made a basic human right.
Its while at this school of thought I’d like to hail Facebook for the introduction of 0.facebook.com that has made an effort to bridge the digital divide, by making it possible for people to interact via the social site without any data charges. This is a real show by the social network that information, and the internet for that matter, is a basic human right to each and every individual.
While I reckon that we still have a long way to go in bridging the global digital divide, the strides that have already been made are a good stepping stone for better things to come. With pacesetters such as the laying of undersea fibre optic cables, introduction of data centres (especially in rural areas) and social media facilities such as 0.facebook.com, we are on a stable course of bridging the divide.
It is quite notable that there is no Kenyan mobile operator where 0.facebook.com can be availed, but it is still a great thing to have this facility in the nine African countries and other third world countries. Not only will it open Africa to the rest of the world and provide opportunities, it’ll also enable digitally isolated communities to communicate via the internet. It’ll provide benefits to the communities by improving democracy and participation mechanisms.
It works such that when users click to view a photo or browse another mobile site, a notification page appears to confirm that they will be charged if they want to leave 0.facebook.com. Through the economic and speed benefits to users, the social network hopes to woo a fairy big chunk of the market, especially in Africa, who find data costs a barrier.
So far four mobile operators from nine African countries have collaborated with Facebook in this great venture. They are among the 50 operators in 45 countries that the online network has partnered with. This is a great milestone in the continent’s burgeoning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.
Africa has for years been regarded as a dark continent of the civilised world. Top on the list is the technological aspect, especially in terms of the availability and use of information and communication tools. The global digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world is alarming; with statistics showing that it has only 2.5 per cent of the world’s internet users.
The digital divide in this case is the distinct disparity in the use and advancement of technologies between Africa and the developed world. Several scholars have advanced the notion that the continent is in danger of isolation from the developed world if this situation persists.
Our beloved continent seems to be fairing below expectations when it comes to the digital divide due to rampant poverty. Many people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, live below-a-dollar-a-day and struggle even to get basic needs. Thus, the mention of information and communication tools such as mobile phones, computers and internet is considered as mere luxury.
Most countries are also known to have low bandwidth (the amount of data transmitted through a communications line) with quite a number of countries still using copper wire communications in core networks. This has occasioned several African governments to increasingly adopt fibre optic cables, which is the best carrier of high capacity bandwidth. This alternative method transmits information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fibre. These efforts are in a bid to bridge the widened digital divide.
In a continent that is punctuated by poor infrastructure, especially the lack of transport networks to install ICT infrastructure, efforts of technological advancement can face a major setback.
It is also quite evident that ICT growth tends to be concentrated only in big cities in these countries, thus the rural populace is left out in the sharing of information through avenues such as wireless technologies and mobile phones.
The fact that the number of people who are tech-savvy is low compared to the developed world where ICT tools such as computers and cell phones are available to children at an early age, does not help matters. On the other side of the continuum, the continent also faces rampant ‘brain drain’ so to speak. Many skilled people, especially the youth, have failed to find opportunities on the continent and have gone to offer their services to other regions of the world.
One of the major issues that was discussed at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland last year was the right to communicate. This entails guaranteeing everyone access to affordable communications tools. In relation to this, a big number of professionals in the information industry are for the idea that the internet ought to be made a basic human right.
Its while at this school of thought I’d like to hail Facebook for the introduction of 0.facebook.com that has made an effort to bridge the digital divide, by making it possible for people to interact via the social site without any data charges. This is a real show by the social network that information, and the internet for that matter, is a basic human right to each and every individual.
While I reckon that we still have a long way to go in bridging the global digital divide, the strides that have already been made are a good stepping stone for better things to come. With pacesetters such as the laying of undersea fibre optic cables, introduction of data centres (especially in rural areas) and social media facilities such as 0.facebook.com, we are on a stable course of bridging the divide.
It is quite notable that there is no Kenyan mobile operator where 0.facebook.com can be availed, but it is still a great thing to have this facility in the nine African countries and other third world countries. Not only will it open Africa to the rest of the world and provide opportunities, it’ll also enable digitally isolated communities to communicate via the internet. It’ll provide benefits to the communities by improving democracy and participation mechanisms.
Very nicely written!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight!!