Facebook is trying its bet in the ISP business when the social giant quietly released the Express Wi-Fi app to Google's Play store.
Delivered by Facebook's Internet.org initiative, the app here can be used by users to buy data packs that can then be used on Wi-Fi hotspots.
Facebook's Express Wi-Fi isn't completely new. But this time, Facebook has made some improvements over the first version, making it worth to be shown on Google's Play Store. This would allow Android users to easily find and install the app, and having users to no longer required to configure their phones.
"Facebook is releasing the Express Wi-Fi app in the Google Play store to give people another simple and secure way to access fast, affordable internet through their local Express Wi-Fi hotspots," said a Facebook representative.
Facebook has tried something similar called Free Basics. But the service was heavily criticized because it only offered a handful of Facebook-approved services, rather than true internet access. Free Basics didn't go well also because of the possibly of violating net neutrality.
This is where Express Wi-Fi differs by providing the full version of the web instead of the no-cost Free Basics that forced people to compromise on select content.
Express Wi-Fi app goes beyond Free Basics, as the hotspots themselves are managed by local business owners. Without the app, users have to either open a mobile web browser or connect to the internet through a local telecom company that'll ask them to download a third-party app.
Here, Facebook in releasing the app hopes to provide an alternative to the slow data plans offered by cell carriers.
The app marks a major push to expand the internet into the developing world, where lack of quality internet can make it difficult for people to go online, or know more about Facebook.
This is a move by Facebook when the social media experiences a shake in its growth. To sustain itself, the company needs to find new users in places around the world that may be out of radar.
But still, there is an increasing number of people that join Facebook, and this is helped by the fact that Facebook has become an almost omnipresent social media in developed nations.
In addition to Express Wi-Fi, it is also working to develop solar drones, which can provide internet service to people in remote areas.
Though the company may have humanitarian aims in mind with these endeavors, it is also an investment in Facebook’s future.
Initially, the app is available in five developing countries: India, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Indonesia.
Further reading: Internet.Org And The Free Internet Neutrality Dilemma