Internet.org gives free access to over 800 mn: Zuckerberg

Amid a raging debate on Facebook's Internet.org initiative violating net neutrality, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the platform has made free basic internet services available to over 800 million people in nine countries, including India.

Amid a raging debate on Facebook's Internet.org initiative violating net neutrality, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the platform has made free basic internet services available to over 800 million people in nine countries, including India.

Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative which states that it aims to bring five billion people online in partnership with tech giants like Samsung and Qualcomm. But, the social networking site's partnership with Reliance Communications in India to provide free internet access to 33 websites as part of the initiative has raised a debate on net neutrality.

'Internet.org, our effort to connect everyone in the world to the Internet, continues to gather momentum. We've now made free basic internet services available to over 800 million people in nine countries,' said Zuckerberg during a Q1-earnings call. He added that over seven million people, who weren't connected to the internet before, now use Internet.org to get online. Earlier, he has defended that programmes such as Internet.org can co-exist with net neutrality norms.

'Over 70% revenue from mobile ads'

Washington: Facebook on Thursday revealed that its first quarter revenue was $3.45 billion, a 42% increase from the year-ago period, though it failed to meet expectations.

However, the shift to mobile continued, with 73% of its revenue coming from mobile ads as opposed to 59% for this period last year, reported 'The Verge'.