Telecel’s Facebook Zero has been officially launched today giving its subscribers zero rated access to the social network. We have highlighted some details we managed to obtain from Telecel regarding the new service.
Any prepaid subscriber with a data enabled handset can use the service even without any airtime.
There are no charges for any text but images, video and third party sites will attract a charge. This will be 11 cents per megabyte or at the data bundle rate for subscribers who subscribe to data bundles. There will be a warning message before a subscriber accesses content that is not free.
This service is accessible through three addresses, namely zero.facebook.com, 0.facebook.com or o.facebook.com. Default browsers and Opera Mini support the service. Facebook Zero is not supported on other browsers or devices that proxy traffic, including Blackberry and Nokia Ovi browsers. The option would be to download a browser like Opera Mini.
Subscribers using Facebook Zero can send and receive chat messages, browse newsfeeds and view timelines without images and videos. Posting comments, updating statuses, likes, pokes and the messages, feature will all be free.
According to an official statement from Telecel they are set to introduce more products that add value to the subscriber.
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33 comments
This is Useless. Facebook is all about pictures. This service is ill thought and rushed to beat Econet. I would pay $1 to econet to access unlimited facebook whoole week including videos and everything found on facebook
The fact is its free! So even if you run out of data bundles or even your balance you can still use Facebook. I am using it now. Try it.
i agree with Anonymous, you are able to view photo when u click the photo box! go ahead and tell someone!!
you agreed with yourself. lol
The essence of social media is to share moments and be able to re-live them through Video and Image shares. These have been the key drivers of Facebook. A close look at the Telecel Zimbabwe (https://www.facebook.com/zim.telecel) page shows that more than 80% of their posts are in the form of Images. Surely how do they expect their multitude of followers (223,978 likes) to get a grip of these posts.
In my 2 sense, this is a hurried product.
Mawarire are you getting that $1 from Econet that you want to stick to bundles.. this is the evolution live in the moment. Telecel zvazvinhu, ukatoramba uchidada neEconet totoshaya kuti problem yamupfungwa
U do know that you still get charged for images right? Even the little thumbnails of your friends, kana logo ye facebook yacho – and at 11cents per MB, that’s actually HIGHER than the standard out of bundle data price.
This was good for facebook FIVE YEARS AGO when we still posted statuses regularly and commented on them. Nowadays facebook is all PICTURE AND VIDEOS. Completely agree, this is pretty useless. 5 years late! MTN had this in Zambia almost five years ago…
The fact that i can chat with friends and relatives at no cost zvazvinhu… and facebook using econet bundles is a drag slow zviriserious…. Telecel zvazvinhu
Lets not forget that Facebook is a social networking site were i can chat with my friends with text only and share all thats going on in my life. If i can do so absolutely free of cost i would go for it. Its a very good product. Communication on the go. I do not need to use texts for 9cents per text or whats app that will charge me for data. I can simply text without paying. Way to provide communication solutions to people. Kudos to Telecel for being customer centric.
Well done Telecel.
Great move ………………. So Proud 🙂 😉
Free facebook telecel , free wikipidea econet , $1 a day Techzim…………………………….. Insomnia
Telecel 0 kwakumberi
yaaaaay!!!! thats juss great…telecel lovers donn mind mawarire he doesn know how wonderful telecel is
If you have ever restricted your mobile browser from loading images, you would know that there really is nothing to be making noise about here……. data charges for text only are very insignificant… thanks but no thanks Telecel..
Personally, I use Facebook to check on who just got married, who’s getting fat, and if there’s anyone with a cat cuter than mine. And liking stuff.
Mostly about pictures for me. But that’s just me
ahhh, got me in stitches there! thanks
Telecel for ever. Well done guys.
facebook without like
kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
poking pple kkkk
If I were Telecel I would introduce a ‘Viber Bundle’
Unfortunately for Telecel,it seems you are a reactionary team,whereby you only react when Econet has done something better.This company is run by politicians ndosaka vasati vabhadhara licence fee, i would rather stick to my Econet at least i know they are ethical!Vana Jane Mutasa airtime scandal nxaa, yakasara network yenyu!!!!!
Econet Fb bundles and Whatsapp bundles are better that this half baked product
Even if they are afraid subscribers will utilize gigantic amount of data, facebook without picture and videos sucks because facebook users respond better to visual information than plain text. – See more at: http://www.techzim.co.zw/2014/05/telecel-launch-facebook-zero-giving-free-facebook-access-subscribers/#sthash.Od03OJtW.dpuf
Even if they are afraid subscribers will utilize gigantic amount of data, facebook without picture and videos sucks because facebook users respond better to visual information than plain text.
Telecel has always been known to provide good value for money and for their inclusive approach to get most people to enjoy mobile services. I respect them for that. For those with too much money and less rational sense, please leave us alone to enjoy this service and go get fleeced elsewhere! While you are being fleeced, please do not cause noise pollution with your whinging. Period.
And here you have it, when something is free, people find something or everything that is wrong with it.
If I were Telecel I’d introduce whatsapp zero (and then charge for picture downloads and video downloads). After all, whatsapp is mostly text…kkkkkkk…..That is a better product than this facebook without pictures.
econet simply the best
it looks like Anon and Anonymous work for Telecel. its rather a cheap stance because you make it quite obvious that you are paid employee of Telecel based on the number of defensive responses you have been making on the page. its okay to do that but don’t be obvious about it
Fuck Telecel.
Now it’s clear some of us think backward, no offence intented. As the name suggests, its all just #Truth. 1st of all: people like free stuff. Remember these guys are business people at the core, before they consider your needs, they must make sure they cover their arses first. If they say its “free” they must be benefiting somehow. And that’s the hidden costs of images that will always show up somehow, coz honestly what Facebook in this world will not show images! So at 11c per MB, ya’ll being murdered softly, and ya’ll like it…lolest. 2nd of all: who actaully chats with facebook these days?! I mean with Whatsapp in the picture, even weChat has failed to launch big in Zim, but it even offers free video calls. At such levels of resistance to change, who would bother going bk to FB, something we did 8yrs ago?! Huh! Unlikely! 3rd of all: Telecel is the most pathetic SP in Zim, #God bless their souls. I mean they literally have to keep watch of what Econet does, then “claim” to do it better, at which they even fail dismally. What NEW product have they initiated in the past 5yrs? Huh?! Telecash, is that what u were gonna say? Ddnt it come after EcoCash? Whatsapp bundles? FB bundles? Really? what
Morale of it all: Telecel is pathetic. I strongly believe that anything good comes at a cost. Charity is for the under privileged. Until the day I fit in that category, I’m for products that support common sense. In order to get “QUALITY” service, there has to be a sort of payment for it, or else it won’t last long. And so we’ll see how this Telecel frenzy will last. Mark my words. As for those Telecel fanatics out there, you need Makandiwa. Apa kana Magaya haanga zvigone. #Long live the 9million subscriber strong Econet. Ndokuti SP ka uku. #Inspired to change your world. And they’re living up to that promise. Uchanzwa Telecel yakuti yaane Car Tracking service as well, mira uone. Ndopaunonzwa yakuti futi yaane bank pasi pemusasa. Wozonzwazve yakuti Telecash ZimSwitch yavo yakutenga abroad. Wozonzwazve yakuti u can withdraw ur Telecash money paATM. Wozonzwazve yakuti yakutengesa maphone ane airtime and data at $15 per month. Wozonzwazve futi yakuti kana roora yakubhadharwa neTelecash…wotoona kuti mupfungwa ndomarasika. #isu tinenge takangotarisa tichiti go Econet, makazviita kudhara izvi. Hameno vanomirira kufungirwa nevamwe!
[…] Telecel had a Facebook Zero service which offered free access to the social media platform while Econet launched Econet Zero – a bouquet of free education sites that included Wikipedia, which has also been offered under every Free Basics plan. There has also been the BiNu service which also affords subscribers free access to some online properties. […]
[…] rated content and its downstream benefits, Telecel is familiar with these dynamics. In May 2014, it introduced the Facebook Zero service which afforded all of its mobile broadband subscribers free access to a stripped down version of […]