Zuckerberg wants to make internet connectivity a human right in India.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg today stressed on the need for bringing down the cost of accessing the Internet in India, as well as developing content locally to get more people connected to it.

In order to achieve its goal of connecting the two-thirds of the world who are not yet online, Facebook will focus on three key challenges in developing countries: making access affordable, using data more efficiently and focus on localising services — working with operating system providers and other partners to enable more languages on mobile devices, Zuckerberg said.


The Facebook CEO said that by reducing the cost and amount of data required for most apps and enabling new business models, Internet.org can enable the next 5 billion people to come online.

“The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two thirds of the world who are not yet connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today," Zuckerberg said at the Internet.org summit in New Delhi today.

The Facebook founder unveiled a $1 million fund to encourage developers to develop applications in local content for emerging economies.

"We've got a fund of $1 million (Rs. 6 crores approximately) to help developers build and scale apps that will help farmers and migrant workers and students and women, and we're going to fund top apps in each of these categories."

He noted that 60 percent of Indians are not online due the lack of services and content in spoken languages. Citing the example of Internet.org's partnership with Airtel in Zambia, Zuckerberg explained how people can now get access to  free basic internet services – tools for health, education, jobs and basic communications.

Facebook has already helped 3 million people access the internet who had no access before, and with this app people can browse a set of useful health, employment and local information services without data charges.

"Free basic internet access should be like dialing 911 in US or 100 here in India," he said.

Zuckerberg launched the Internet.org Innovation challenge in India to encourage development of apps, websites, onlines services, The award prize is $250,000, which will be presented to the app, website or service that the judges determine best meets the needs of one of the four designated population categories: women, students, farmers and migrant workers (four awards total).

The Innovation Challenge Award winners will also be eligible to receive a package of tools and services worth up to $60,000 from Facebook's FbStart program.

In addition, two apps, websites or services designed for each of the four specified population categories will receive an Impact Award prize in the amount of $25,000.

Meanwhile, Zuckberg will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow to discuss how to digitise India and connect remote villages online through affordable internet and make more local content available to them.