Changes

===Access Numbers===

===Access Numbers===

Another controversial point is the possibility of inflated numbers of connectivity. At a 2015 December town hall held at the [[Indian Institute of Technology]] in Dalhi, Zuckerberg said that Free Basics had brought 15 million users online, a million of which came from India. According to Mashable, Zuckerberg also claimed that half of the people who came to Free Basics opted to pay to access the whole Internet.<ref name="mashable"></ref>

Another controversial point is the possibility of inflated numbers of connectivity. At a 2015 December town hall held at the [[Indian Institute of Technology]] in Dalhi, Zuckerberg said that Free Basics had brought 15 million users online, a million of which came from India. According to Mashable, Zuckerberg also claimed that half of the people who came to Free Basics opted to pay to access the whole Internet -- but these numbers did not take into account that most users of Free Basics already had a data plan and were not first-time internet users.<ref name="mashable"></ref>

 

 

In fact, according to Antonia Graham, head of [[Digicel]], the Free Basics provider in Panama, paying accounts that run out of data are automatically pushed to the Free Basics webpage. Likewise, an unnamed manager at the [[Korek]] telecommunications in Iraq reveals, "I would say that I have had no customers who are new to the internet who come in asking me about Free Basics... if you ask me, 'Is this program for people who don't have the internet?' my answer is no.”"<ref name="buzzfeed"></ref>

===Case Study: India===

===Case Study: India===

When Facebook first began operations in India, only 15% of its population of 1.1 billion people had access to the internet.<ref name="youtube"></ref> Free Basics' potential in India had initially seemed quite large.In 2015 September, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi had said in a town hall at Facebook's headquarters that "India has 600,000 villages, and most people get scared when they hear this number. My vision is to connect them all with optical fiber cable in the next five years.<ref name="mashable">[http://mashable.com/2016/02/09/why-facebook-free-basics-failed-india/ Why India rejected Facebook's 'free' version of the Internet], Mashable.com. Published 2016 February 9. Retrieved 2016 April 23.</ref>

When Facebook first began operations in India, only 15% of its population of 1.1 billion people had access to the internet.<ref name="youtube"></ref> Free Basics' potential in India had initially seemed quite large.In 2015 September, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi had said in a town hall at Facebook's headquarters that "India has 600,000 villages, and most people get scared when they hear this number. My vision is to connect them all with optical fiber cable in the next five years.<ref name="mashable">[http://mashable.com/2016/02/09/why-facebook-free-basics-failed-india/ Why India rejected Facebook's 'free' version of the Internet], Mashable.com. Published 2016 February 9. Retrieved 2016 April 23.</ref>

Nonetheless, in 2016 February, Free Basics was banned from the cotnyr for "discriminatory tariffs for data services", aka zero rating".<ref name="india">[http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/08/india-bans-zero-rating-internet-schemes/ India bans Facebook's 'Free Basics' service], EnGadget.com. Published 2016 February 8. Retrieved 2016 April 20.</ref> This came after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) called for Reliance Communications, Facebook's Indian telecom partner, to stop Free Basics in 2015 December. In response, the company reportedly spent millions on advertising and had an op-ed published by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the Times of India.<ref name="india"></ref>

Nonetheless, in 2016 February, Free Basics was banned from the cotnyr for "discriminatory tariffs for data services", aka zero rating".<ref name="india">[http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/08/india-bans-zero-rating-internet-schemes/ India bans Facebook's 'Free Basics' service], EnGadget.com. Published 2016 February 8. Retrieved 2016 April 20.</ref> This came after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) called for Reliance Communications, Facebook's Indian telecom partner, to stop Free Basics in 2015 December.

This main criticism -- that Free Basics had a limited number of partners and only a single service provider -- was one that Facebook contested. According to Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org, "There is no exclusivity with Reliance in India. There are other telecom operators who are interested, but it seems the criticism has slowed down the conversation. Reliance is just our first partner in India and there are countries where we have multiple partners."<ref name="opening"></ref>

This main criticism -- that Free Basics had a limited number of partners and only a single service provider -- was one that Facebook contested. According to Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org, "There is no exclusivity with Reliance in India. There are other telecom operators who are interested, but it seems the criticism has slowed down the conversation. Reliance is just our first partner in India and there are countries where we have multiple partners."<ref name="opening"></ref>

===Case Study: Egypt===

===Case Study: Egypt===