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(Image source: Facebook)
BY JASMINE BAILEY
Facebook — an outlet that helps us stay connected to people we might lose touch with
otherwise. But now its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, is going a little more basic — with a new
campaign, Internet.org. Its goal is to get Internet access for everyone in the world
— there are currently about 5 billion people out of 7 billion who don't have Internet access.
"They're going to use it to decide what kind of government they want, get access to healthcare
for the first time ever, connect with family hundreds of miles away that they haven't seen
in decades. Getting access to the internet is a really big deal. I think we're going
to be able to do it." (Via CNN)
Zuckerberg isn't making the trek alone. Just some of the tech giants also among the campaign's
founders include... (Via Flickr / Silverisdead)
Technology company Ericsson, which provides "telecommunications equipment and services
to mobile and fixed network operators."
Wireless communications company MediaTek.
And the Opera browser company — which creates web browsers with the goal of making internet
available to the world.
Samsung and Nokia are also on board. So how does this innovative group hope to eventually
accomplish the goal of connecting the planet? An exact plan isn't clear yet, but...
In a press release three points are laid out — making access more affordable, making
data transfer more efficient, and creating new business models that introduce more people
to the connected world. (Via Facebook)
But linking the world through internet access now seems to be a bit of a race with other
initiatives like Google's Project Loon.
"Maybe Finding an answer starts with looking somewhere new, like up. And trying something
different, like balloons. Because it turns out that if you use balloons it's faster and
easier and cheaper." (Via Google)
One way or another, Zuckerberg wants connectivity to happen. He calls it a human right.