Internet for all: Uninor offers free access

In 2012, Telenor committed to bring
Wikipedia to its customers free of data
charges through a partnership with the
Wikimedia Foundation.
Uninor has announced free access to
Wikipedia for its internet subscribers. The
initiative is a part of their ‘Internet for All’
ambition through which Uninor aims to
remove obstacles in accessing relevant
information by mobile phone users who can’t
afford data charges.
As a part of the programme, Uninor
employees will engage with students and
teachers to spread awareness on digital
literacy with special focus on Wikipedia in
the rural areas.
“By giving free access to Wikipedia, Uninor
will be able to put this repository of
knowledge in the hands of the masses and
empower the society,” said Vivek Sood, CEO,
Telewings Communications Services Pvt Ltd
(Uninor).
In 2012, Telenor committed to bring
Wikipedia to its customers free of data
charges through a partnership with the
Wikimedia Foundation. Following the
agreement, free access to Wikipedia on
mobile phones has been launched in Telenor
Business units in Bangladesh, Thailand,
Malaysia, Myanmar and Montenegro.
Last year, Uninor had introduced service-
based plans for Facebook and WhatsApp for
its subscribers. The disruptive product
innovation brought a paradigm shift by
charging customers for the services rendered
rather than the amount of data consumed.
With the introduction of free Wikipedia and
more such services in the pipeline, Uninor
plans to have 50% of its users on Internet by
2017. The free access to Wikipedia will be
available for three months starting April 1.