News, India: Facebook continues with its ‘noble’ cause of connecting billions of Indians. After the failure of Facebook’s Free Basics — an initiative to provide free Internet access — in India due to the violation of Net Neutrality principles, Facebook has reintroduced its plan to provide Internet access in rural India, but this time the social networking giant is planning to launch a commercial WiFi service in India shortly in a ful-fledged manner.
The company has now announced Express Wi-Fi, its new initiative to get Indians online, and eventually on Facebook. The company has teamed up with ISPs and entrepreneurs by providing software that will help them provide Internet service in the rural areas that can then be accessed via public Wi-Fi hotsposts.
According to the Reports, Facebook now has partnered with state-owned carrier Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to expand its Express Wi-Fi program into a commercial launch, rolling out 125 rural public WiFi hotspots soon in India,
The new program will allow users to purchase data from service providers in India in order to access the internet. However, the company has not disclosed the names of service providers that it is in discussions with.
“We are testing Express Wi-Fi program in India currently that allows customers to purchase fast, reliable and affordable data packages from their local ISP (Internet service providers) to access the Internet via local hotspots,” a Facebook spokesperson told media.
The social giant in a statement confirmed that the Wi-Fi service testing is being carried out with “multiple local ISP partners”. Facebook intends to expand the availability of its Express Wi-Fi to other regions soon, it told the publication.
“With Express Wifi, we’re working with carriers, Internet service providers, and local entrepreneurs to help expand connectivity to underserved locations around the world. We’re currently live in India, and are expanding to other regions soon,” says the official Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi page.