{"id":6290,"date":"2019-11-21T13:07:58","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T13:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.upstreamsystems.com\/press\/press-releases\/free-mobile-internet-service-keeps-more-than-200m-people-in-developing-world-connected\/"},"modified":"2023-05-08T10:57:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T10:57:46","slug":"free-mobile-internet-service-keeps-more-than-200m-people-in-developing-world-connected","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.upstreamsystems.com\/pt-br\/press\/press-releases\/free-mobile-internet-service-keeps-more-than-200m-people-in-developing-world-connected\/","title":{"rendered":"Free mobile internet service keeps more than 200m people in developing world connected"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Consumers in South America and Africa first to benefit<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>London, November 21, 2019 &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong>A European company is beating Facebook to the punch by making free mobile internet access available to 215 million consumers in emerging markets. London-based mobile technology specialist Upstream has surpassed the 200 million milestone after making its services available through seven mobile operators in five South American and African countries.<\/p>\n<p>Today, despite Facebook\u2019s global dominance, it only claims to have introduced the internet to <em>\u201cmore than 100 million users\u201d<\/em>. Facebook\u2019s free internet access initiatives in emerging markets ran aground due to regulatory issues, and in India the service was withdrawn following protests and government intervention. However, UK-based Upstream has tackled the problem of the global digital divide directly at source \u2013 the user\u2019s handset.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s Zero-D platform works in partnership with mobile network operators to allow users free internet access within an advertising-funded service. Within the service, users receive free, unlimited access to a search engine, a localized and global news service, and a messaging platform.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upstreamsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Zero-D-Latin-America-Infographic-1-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.upstreamsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Zero-D-Latin-America-Infographic-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Importantly, Zero-D allows consumers to continue to access the internet service even if they have zero-credit balance on the pre-paid mobile phone accounts that dominate in the emerging markets.\u00a0Running out of data on their service package and not being ready, or able, to top-up means that the two billion internet users in emerging markets are usually disconnected for some 50 per cent of the time. Zero-D tackles that problem directly.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<em>In much of the developing world<\/em>,\u201d said Upstream CEO Guy Krief, \u201c<em>the mobile phone represents the only means of connecting to the internet. However, in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, an everyday activity that we take for granted \u2013 such as reading the news online \u2013 would typically cost around 30 per cent of a weekly household income. That\u2019s simply not sustainable<\/em>\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The service is managed by Upstream in partnership with operators in Africa and South America. The benefit to mobile operators is that they are able to generate advertising revenue when they would otherwise receive no income from customers who would not or could not purchase their next top-up.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<em>Zero-D is a mission for us, as much as it is a business<\/em>,\u201d said Krief.\u00a0 \u201c<em>If there\u2019s a secret to our success, it is that we intentionally designed the service so that everyone benefits, while providing something positive to the world<\/em>.<em> Keeping more than 200 million mobile users connected is very significant for us<\/em>,\u201d he added. \u201c<em>It is proof that our approach is working, and it means we are already making a tangible everyday difference to a huge number of people\u2019s lives\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>###<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more information please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Upstream Corporate Communications<br \/>\n\u0395: corp.comms@upstreamsystems.com<br \/>\nP: +30210 6618532 +30210 6618507<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A European company is beating Facebook to the punch by making free mobile internet access available to 215 million consumers&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5721,"parent":0,"template":"","tags":[452,418,366,453,454,455,456,370,421,422],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.9 - 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