Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that his social networking company is joining a project that will provide cheaper internet to four billion people who are still offline, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Zuckerberg joins the list of six other major founding members of the group called "internet.org" which include Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, Mediatech, and Opera Software.
The group aims to bring four billion people online by making internet access more affordable and more efficient to improve their lives and promote business growth.
"There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy," said Mr. Zuckerberg to WSJ. "Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it."
The social networking company had already spent $1 billion for the infrastructure of this project and is willing to spend more.
The group is accepting other businesses who would like to join them in their mission.
Facebook currently has about 1.15 billion active monthly users but there are five million smartphone users. Most smartphone users couldn't afford the expensive data bundle costs to go online.
The 29-year old is planning to discuss proposals to mobile operators, academics, government, and non-governmental organizations to make the project successful. He believes that providing internet access to everybody will help in improving the lives of the current generation.
"I'm focused on this because I believe it is one of the greatest challenges of our generation," he wrote in his Facebook profile.
Facebook has significantly grew from being a college project back in 2004 to becoming the world's largest social networking site which keep most people connected. Zuckerberg calculated that only one-third of the world population has internet access and hopes to increase it through this project.
