The African market is flooded with zero rating services such as Free Basics (Facebook’s zero rating scheme) and other subsidised data strategies. Do these schemes make internet more affordable and bring access to more people in Africa?
The main plus for Free Basics has been that it provides free watered down internet access to those who don't usually have that kind of access, even to selected sites and to social media. In this column I will examine if this is seen as a major data saving strategy in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria - places where Research ICT Africa has conducted their focus groups studies.
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Photograph by Omaranabulsi under CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.