Telecom Operator Aircel has partnered with Wikimedia foundation to offer free access to Wikipedia. Aircel users can access Wikipedia’s mobile website for free of cost. This is called Wikipdia Zero initiative. It will help Wikipedia to reach 60 million Aicrel users’ mobile devices.
Aircel customers can access Wikipedia mobile website on m.wikipedia.org. A text only version of Wikipedia is also available for free of cost on zero.wikipedia.org. Starting from today, Aircel users can visit Wikipedia on mobile devices and it won’t cost any data charges.
It is worth noting here that the program only applies the mobile version of Wikipedia. If you use native apps on your smartphone, you will be changed.
Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer for Aircel, said, “Through our alliance with the Wikimedia Foundation, Aircel is not only making internet services reach a wider audience, but also helping to encourage and enrich the lives of our customers by offering access to knowledge and information free of cost. We are excited about this partnership and hope this initiative will benefit all our customers from various age groups.”
“With the partnership, we extend our programme to India where we potentially reach millions of people for the first time,” Kul Takanao Wadhwa, head of the mobile division at the Wikimedia Foundation, said in a statement.
“It is our mission to provide free access to knowledge for everyone in the world,” says Amit Kapoor Senior Manager, Mobile Partnerships, at the Wikimedia Foundation. “It’s only fitting then that today we announced our first Wikipedia Zero partnership launch in India, the world’s second most populous country.”
Aircel users will be able to access Wikipedia is many local languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, and 17 other Indian languages.
This partnership is valid for 3 years.
This is not the first offering of Wikipedia free access. Wikipedia Zero was first rolled outin Uganda in April 2012 with mobile operator, Orange. It is also available in Tunisia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Pakistan and SriLanka.
