Facebook launches OpenCellular – a noble cause or gimmick?

Social media giant Facebook announced the launch of OpenCellular, the company’s latest attempt at bringing Internet to everyone. According to Facebook, more than four billion of the world’s population is still not connected to the Internet and 10 percent of the world lives outside network coverage.

Facebook has an enviable user base of over 1.6 billion people. While that is an achievement in its own, the company has to keep asking itself, “What next?”. In order to bring in new users, the company plans to target the ‘Internet virgins’, as this is the only way the company can grow. The number of users have saturated in many developed countries such as US and UK, hence Facebook is looking for new ways to bring more people online from developing markets like India and Africa.

OpenCellular is a shoebox-sized device that can be attached to a tree or a lamp post, and it has the ability to support a variety of communication options including network in a box or access points for 2G or LTE. With constructing an entire network tower being too expensive, OpenCellular provides a cheaper alternative. An important feature of the device would be it’s ability to withstand harsh conditions, making it a reliable bet.

Source : www.techgignews.com