Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that in the past year, Internet.org, Facebook's fledgling effort to create new users in countries with little or low Internet use, has launched its application with basic free services in six countries.
Zuckerberg called the app an "onramp" for paid services and said initial feedback from telecom partners was positive.
"Even if they have never used internet in their life, they have basic services they can use and people can learn why they would want to pay for data. And we are finding that is growing paid subscribers and overall subscribers of the Internet."
Meanwhile, Google plans to start testing the use of solar-powered drone aircraft as "floating cell towers" that could bring coverage to remote areas or even disaster zones.
Google's "Project Loon" high-altitude air balloons which aim to provide coverage for rural areas has advanced to the point that they are expected to be ready in two years time.
Google envisages a constellation of balloons and planes which can be stitched together to create a mesh of floating cell towers.
While both companies said they would be willing to work more together they have also underscored their differences.
"it's complementary, but what we are trying to do is different," Google vice president Sundar Pichai said.
Source AP
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