Telecel Zimbabwe is set to announce the launch of a new service for its subscribers, Facebook Zero which enables subscribers free access to the social network. This zero rate does not include videos and images but the data cost to access these will be at a reduced rates. This is according to anonymous sources within the organisation. We were unable to get an official comment regarding the product and its launch.
According to the visuals we managed to catch a glimpse of, to access this service a mobile subscriber has to log into Facebook via zero.facebook.com or o.facebook.com. The usual Facebook features are enabled (poking, liking, browsing timelines etc) including chat messages. This IM functionality will probably make it a run away hit as it offers a free chat platform.
This is the first move made by Telecel regarding Over The Top (OTT) services such as Facebook, as most people anticipated an offering similar to the Facebook bundles being offered by Econet Wireless.
It would appear though that Telecel has taken a page from other operations like Banglalink, the Bangladesh telecoms subsidiary of Vimpelcom. Vimpelcom has a stake in Telecel Zimbabwe. Perhaps we might see other OTT partnerships with Whatsapp and Wikipedia from Telecel as has been the case with Banglalink.
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I’m curious does the free facebook include apps, which are essentially third party and loaded from third party websites ?
[…] 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. […]
this is pretty awesome…..free STALKING 🙂
talk about it Telecel is on Fire……. free facebook…woooow….
Awesomeness !!!!!!!!!!! Free stalking !
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.
zvakasara kunge hondo yemuseve……………….waste of time saka ndoita sei abt photos bva ngazvigare…………..ndaenda ku econet ini
Kkkkkkkk
Siyayibongela itelecel
[…] If it is about playing catch up does this mean Facebook bundles are on the horizon? When we contacted officials from Telecel they confirmed that this is the next port of call with a launch coming in the very near future. Some technical aspects still being ironed out though and suggestions are that they will be replacing the Facebook Zero product. […]
[…] can’t logon to the internet. Telecel has partnered with the over 1 billion-user platform and is providing FREE access for its subscribers (albeit there are no pictures and videos that are shown, in the hopes that you […]
[…] still doesn’t offer the equivalent of Telecel’s Facebook bundles, preferring instead Facebook Zero, which doesn’t look as […]
[…] This is hardly a new approach to boosting subscriber value. Locally we have seen free Twitter from Econet as well as WhatsApp and Facebook bundles from both Econet and Telecel although a price tag has been attached to this service by both networks. Telecel also has the Facebook Zero service that zero rates Facebook services. […]
Awesome