Indosat, a member of Ooredoo Group, and Facebook have partnered to launch Internet.org in Indonesia as part of the "Internet Tanpa Pulsa Untuk Semua" initiative for all Indonesians.

Facebook's Internet.org will make the Internet more accessible for all Indonesians through a set of basic services, including useful health, education, social media for communication and news, said a statement.

Internet.org, a Facebook-led initiative, is aimed at making internet access available to the two-thirds of the world's population who have never been connected to the internet before.

In Indonesia, Indosat is the first operator that is providing easy access to the Internet without -‘Pulsa’ to all Indonesians.

Internet without - ‘Pulsa’ offer is also in line with Indosat's corporate social responsibility mission to bring the benefit to internet access to Indonesians.

Indosat will provide internet access at no charge through the Internet.org services both for IM3 and Mentari (pre-paid customers) and Matrix (post-paid customers).

Alexander Rusli, president, director and chief executive officer of Indosat, said: ”Internet.org connects people with a new world of information including for health, education or even simply helping football fans stay up to date with their team's latest results.  It also helps people to communicate with relatives and friends, making it easier to stay in touch. 

“Indonesia's government has clear targets to bring more of our nation's people online including increasing wireless connectivity across the country while also making this connectivity affordable for the everyday person. With this partnership Indosat has taken the first step to help our industry to drive this forward.  As such, we encourage all Indonesians to take advantage of this fantastic and unique offer available in the market today.”

Dr Nasser Marafih, group CEO, Ooredoo, added: "We are delighted to be the first to work with Facebook to launch this service in Indonesia.  With this partnership, once again Indosat has proved itself as a pioneer for our group.  In all of the markets that we operate in we are passionate about the benefits of connectivity and are always exploring new ways to help bring more people into the digital economy.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, said: ”The internet is a powerful tool for social and economic progress. When people have access to basic internet services in areas like jobs, health and education, they can change lives and communities. We're excited to partner with Indosat to bring connectivity to more people in Indonesia through Internet.org." - TradeArabia News Service