Facebook Zero
Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by social networking service company Facebook in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges (also known as zero-rate) for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down text-only version of its mobile website (as opposed to the ordinary mobile website m.facebook.com that also loads pictures). The stripped-down version is available online only through providers who have entered the agreement with Facebook. Photos are not loaded by default. Users may still choose to view them by clicking through but regular data charges apply to photo use. History Plans for Facebook Zero were first announced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2010 by Chamath Palihapitiya. In collaboration with 50 mobile operators around the world, it was officially of launched on May 18, 2010. The scheme is considered zero-rated or the practice of offering free data for some services, filtering out others. The Facebook model featured a stripped-down version of the platform, which was made available to all mobile phone owners. It was offered in emerging markets to address the issue of data caps. A report explained that Facebook Zero subsidized phone data for a period, allowing for free user access.