MTN says zero chance of Facebook Zero

4 Jun 2010

Despite providing access to Facebook Zero in seven African countries where it operates, international mobile service provider MTN has no plans to make the data-charge free version available to South African mobile users any time soon.

In a brief statement released to Memeburn.com on Thursday, MTN dashed any hopes that local users may have had of being able to access Facebook Zero, the new mobile offering from the social networking giant.

Citing the fact that they were choosing to focus all of their energies on the FIFA World Cup 2010, the service provider said they "decided to opt out of this venture and focus all their attention on the best FIFA experience ever."

Facebook Zero is a new incarnation of Facebook that is geared specifically for the mobile market and targeted at consumers in the lower-income brackets. A recognition that affordability and speed are two of the main obstacles that users in emerging markets encounter when accessing Facebook through their phones, led the company to develop the new site.

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Source: Memeburn

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