Facebook has tied up with BSNL and will be offering data packages as low as Rs 10 in rural areas. The social networking company has purchased a bandwidth from BSNL for a span of 3 years for Rs 10 crore which will be accessible in 125 rural areas.
Facebook will be offering WiFi services under Express WiFi initiative, which is currently in beta phase. Internet can be accessed through WiFi hotspots which is being set by BSNL’s partner QuadGen and will run on an unlicensed band of frequency of 2.4 GHz.
The company also plans to tie up with local internet service providers and expand network access so as to build an easy accessible network for local entrepreneurs.
Note: Express WiFi is also a part of internet.org (Free Basics) for which Facebook has been aggressively trying to garner support and submitted responses to TRAI which was rejected by the authority and had asked the users to communicate directly and answer the specific questions raised.
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