Facebook has announced partnership with 18 telecom operators in 14
countries to provide free messenger service. The subscribers of these
network service providers will get free or discounted data access to
Facebook Messenger regardless of the operating system platform.
The list includes Airtel and Reliance in
India, TMN in Portugal, Three in Ireland, Vivacom in Bulgaria, Backcell
in Azerbaydzhan, Indosat, Smartfren, AXIS and XL Axiata in Indonesia,
SMART in Philippines, DiGi in Malaysia, DTAC in Thailand, Viva in
Bahrain, STC in Saudi Arabia, Oi in Brazil, Etisalat in Egypt, and Tre
in Italy.
Facebook is now considered as a serious
competitor to mobile-messenger services like WhatsApp, Viber, LINE and
so on after launching Facebook messenger last year. This app also lets
you subscribe to the messenger service by only using your mobile number
without logging into your Facebook account. This move might generate a
new trend in mobile-messaging as Facebook already has 1.06 billion
monthly active users including 71million in India.
Following the partnership, Reliance
Mobile has already launched ‘Facebook Messenger Plan’ which offers
unlimited access to Facebook (including Messenger) for Rs. 16 per month.
Facebook also has already enabled free voice calling for its users in
Canada and the US on iOS platform. This service is not yet enabled in
other countries considering it might threaten the profits of telecom
operators worldwide.
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