BARCELONA, Spain – Claiming everybody should have access to the Internet, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed projects his company is working on designed to provider greater access to the Web.
“Facebook’s mission is to connect everyone in the world,” Zuckerberg said during a speech at this week’s Mobile World Congress event.
Recently, Facebook-backed Free Basics (formerly Internet.org) was banned in India following the service launch in February 2015.
“It was disappointing,” Zuckerberg said at a keynote session. “But the main learning is that each country is different. We are continuing to deploy it in other countries and in India we focus on other programs.”
Facebook has been working on several projects to enhance Internet access around the world, including developing Aquila drones and the Telecom Infra Project.
“There are 4 billion people in the world that don’t have access to the Internet,” Zuckerberg noted.
Speaking to telecom operators, Zuckerberg, who was spotted jogging around the Gothic District in the host city earlier this week, said his company is not moving into the Internet service provider business.
“We have a great business model that we like,” Zuckerberg explained. “We want to put people on the Internet. I built Facebook because I wanted to connect people in my college.”
At the keynote session, Zuckerberg repeated comments made at an earlier Samsung event on how virtual reality will change the way people interact. VR, he said, is becoming the trend people will use to express themselves to those they care about. Next-generation mobile networks based on “5G” technology will be crucial when users begin to share their whole experiences via live streaming.
“It will require a full upgrade of the network, because it consumes a lot of bandwidth,” Zuckerberg said.
Mobile video is the next big thing for Facebook and Zuckerberg said he hopes the company gets it right the first time.
Editor’s note: Samsung has provided travel costs to the MWC.
