Facebook might be rolling out Internet.org in India in partnership with Reliance Communications: On Feb 3rd, while accessing Internet.org over WiFi in India, we got the following message: On being contacted by MediaNama, a Facebook representative told us that they wouldn't like to comment on this. Since then, this page now gets redirected to the Internet.org homepage. Neither Reliance Communications nor Reliance Jio have responded to queries, but it isn't Reliance Jio, and they intend to go to market with the brand Jio, rather than Reliance, one company source told us. Historically, Reliance Communications has been the first port-of-call for such deals: it was (Facebook owned) Whatsapp's first deal in India (with unlimited usage of WhatsApp and Facebook across the country for Rs. 16/month), and Google had inked a two year partnership with the telco in 2012 to promote Android in India, offering a free 3G data plan offering 1GB of data transfer to all customers who bought a new Google endorsed Android device. Update: BGR India points out that RCOM has sent invites for a joint press conference with Facebook in Mumbai tomorrow. Also read: the most comprehensive coverage of Net Neutrality in India Pros and Cons of Internet.org Pro: Access It increases access. Users get free access to Facebook, which acts like a gateway drug of sorts by initiating users into Internet consumption. Facebook and certain services are free, and via Facebook, users access the rest of the web. Telcos get paid for usage outside of these free sites, and get more users to sign…
