Millicom customers in Colombia will be able to access certain key Websites via their mobile phones without incurring data charges as a result of a tie-up between the telco and Facebook’s Internet.org initiative.
Internet.org is a project designed to spread the availability of affordable Internet access. Under the terms of the new agreement with Millicom, customers of its Tigo service in Colombia will be able to use some information, social media, and government sites for free. These include Facebook, Wikipedia and Unicef.
"By working with Tigo to make the Internet more accessible through a set of free basic services, more people can come online and discover useful services and information," said Chris Daniels, Facebook’s VP of Internet.org in Colombia.
Millicom already partners with Internet.org in Tanzania and works with Facebook alone on a similar initiative in Paraguay.
"These [partnerships] have proven to be highly successful in promoting digital inclusion and introducing people to online services for the first time," said Mario Zanotti, senior EVP of operations at Millicom.
"We hope that Tigo customers in Colombia will enjoy using these as we continue to promote the wider benefits of the digital lifestyle," he added.
Internet.org is a joint venture between Facebook and various vendor partners, including Ericsson, Mediatek, Opera, Samsung, Nokia and Qualcomm.
