By Newley Purnell in Singapore and Resty Woro Yuniar in Jakarta
When Muhammad Maiyagy Gery heard about a new mobile app from
Facebook Inc. that provides free Internet access in his native
Indonesia, he was excited.
But after testing it, the 24-year-old student from a mining town
on the eastern edge of Borneo soon deleted the app, called
Internet.org, frustrated that he was unable to access Google.com
and some local Indonesian sites.
Mr. Gery said Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is an
"inspiration in the tech world," but added that the company's free
Internet effort is "inadequate."
Mr. Gery's reaction illustrates the unexpected criticism
Facebook has encountered to its bold initiative to bring free
Internet access to the world's four billion people who don't have
it, and to increase connectivity among those with limited access.
He is one of many users who say a Facebook-led partnership is
providing truncated access to websites, thwarting the principles of
what is known in the U.S. as net neutrality--the view that Internet
providers shouldn't be able to dictate consumer access to
websites.
Since Mr. Zuckerberg's announcement of the $1 billion project
two years ago, Facebook has launched Internet.org in 19 countries
across Asia, Latin America and Africa by teaming up with mobile
carriers and technology giants including Samsung Electronics Co.,
chip maker Qualcomm Inc. and telecom-equipment firm Ericsson AB.
Facebook says that through the initiative, in which it is also
experimenting with drones and satellites to deliver Web access,
some nine million people have come online.
Users with data-enabled feature phones can access a special
website through a mobile browser, while those with smartphones can
download the app from Google's Play Store. Though arrangements vary
by country, the Internet.org app typically provides a simplified,
low-data version of Facebook, its Messenger service and selected
local websites offering services like jobs, health information and
sports updates. Facebook says it works with mobile operators, which
provide free data, and governments to pick sites for the
platform.
While some applaud the Internet initiative, the U.S. company is
dealing with a backlash from users in some of its fastest-growing
markets like Indonesia and India, which are key to its future
expansion.
In response to the criticism, Mr. Zuckerberg earlier this year
wrote an opinion article that appeared in two Indian newspapers
defending the project. He argued that the initiative is compatible
with the principles of net neutrality, and that if people "can't
afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some
access and voice than none at all."
But criticism about the initiative has placed Facebook in an
awkward position. The social network along with other tech
companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Twitter Inc. are members of the
U.S. industry group Internet Association, which advocates for net
neutrality, among other issues. In markets like Indonesia and
India, critics say Facebook is more interested in controlling which
websites users can tap into than in ensuring free Internet access.
"It's not Internet.org. It's walled garden.org," said Sunil
Abraham, head of the Bangalore, India-based Center for Internet and
Society.
Facebook wants to be seen as a pioneer "of the open and free
Internet and not the opposite," said Neha Dharia, an analyst at
telecommunications research firm Ovum.
On Thursday, Facebook said it was changing the name of the
Internet.org app and mobile website to Free Basics by Facebook in
order to better distinguish it from the company's wider
Internet.org initiative. Asked whether the change was related to
criticism of the project, a Facebook spokeswoman said that the name
will "more intuitively describe the product to consumers."
Chris Daniels, Facebook's vice president in charge of the
project, said in a recent interview that he has been surprised by
the criticism of the project, noting that many people have gained
access to the Web.
This spring in India, travel website Cleartrip, news channel
NDTV and a mobile news app pulled their content from the platform
amid concerns over net neutrality.
Cleartrip referred inquiries about its reasons for leaving the
initiative to an April statement it posted on its website. In that
statement, the company said the backlash in India "gave us pause to
rethink our approach to Internet.org and the idea of large
corporations getting involved with picking and choosing who gets
access to what and how fast."
Vishal Anand, chief product officer at mobile news app
Dailyhunt, said that "While we appreciate the effort to give people
Internet access, we fully support the principles of net
neutrality." He declined to elaborate on the company's specific
objections to Internet.org.
Prannoy Roy, executive co-chairperson of NDTV, said the company
stands "firmly on the side of net neutrality." Mr. Roy declined to
detail the company's specific complaints about Facebook's
initiative.
Facebook's Mr. Daniels said in India, where Internet.org
launched in February, concerns over net neutrality are "grounded in
false fears" that Facebook is offering a "walled garden," since
many users ultimately buy data plans and access the Internet
at-large.
In interviews with more than a dozen users in Indonesia, where
Internet.org launched in April, many said they weren't interested
in the app or weren't happy with the selection of websites.
Search results on Ask.com--which is available via the platform
in Indonesia--can be viewed free of charge, but users incur a data
fee when clicking through to websites not included in the
initiative. Facebook notes that Google and Microsoft Corp.'s Bing
search engine are a part of the program in some countries, but not
Indonesia.
Soon after the backlash In India, Facebook began to open up its
program to outside developers as long as their sites were
compatible on both feature phones and smartphones and worked in
low-bandwidth conditions.
Some mobile operators are expecting to benefit from
Internet.org, providing data free of charge in hopes that
low-income users will become hooked on Internet connectivity and
ultimately pay for data plans.
Alexander Rusli, chief executive of Indonesian operator PT
Indosat Tbk., which has teamed up with the social-media company,
said the number of people who pay for data on his network is
"rising but still small." He declined to provide specific
numbers.
"The common interest between us and Facebook is they want to get
the number of Facebook customers up," said Mr. Rusli. "We don't
mind pushing their agenda because we know Facebook customers tend
to be more sticky," or inclined to use data services more
frequently. He added that his company tries to steer clear of the
net-neutrality debate.
The Facebook spokeswoman disputed the view that the company's
mission is to boost user numbers. "That is not the intent of
Internet.org," she said, noting the company's mission is "to make
the world more open and connected, and Internet.org is an extension
of that mission."
As for Mr. Gery, he said he hopes Internet.org becomes less
restricted.
"Internet.org has the potential to unite the world but when I
run out of data packs, I choose not to go online."
Preetika Rana in New Delhi contributed to this article.
Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell@wsj.com and Resty Woro
Yuniar at restyworo.yuniar@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 24, 2015 14:44 ET (18:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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