Re: Orange & Facebook

From: S Moonesamy <sm+mu_at_elandsys.com>
Date: Wed, 27 May 2015 17:16:50 -0700

Hi Nadim,
At 14:33 27-05-2015, Mohammad Nadim wrote:
>In a few days, Orange will allow free and unlimited access to
>Facebook, for those who have subscribed to their packages, be it
>Prepaid[1] or Postpaid[2].
>
>I have some questions:
>Do you think this is a good thing?

I asked for unlimited access to the internet and I am being offered
free and unlimited access to Facebook. It is not a good thing for me
as that is not what I asked for.

>Why is Orange choosing what should be free and what not for us?

Someone would have to ask Orange that question.

>Can we call this free service from Orange a "zero-rating[3][4]"
>service (joint market agreement)?

Zero-rating is the practice where a mobile operator offers free
mobile data to allow its customers to access a particular content or
service(s) without charging an additional cost. This free service is
an example of zero-rating.

>What if I want zero-rating service for another app (e.g. FamilyWall,
>or Twitter, etc), rather than Facebook?

You won't get that. :-)

>Who is benefiting from this? Is Facebook "sponsoring" this free
>internet to kill competition (from other social networking services,
>or from startups rising)?

Facebook probably benefits from this. Are there any startups in
Mauritius? Did they comment about this problem?

>Is it in our advantage?

I don't think that it is to my advantage.

>What if they give (zero-rating) "preference" to another
>service/application in the future (decided by them, and not us, the
>users)? Will it be a disadvantage to local startups?

I view startups as different from users. The objective of a startup
is to make money. It is up to the startup to see whether the
preference which is decided by the mobile operator will be to its disadvantage.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy
Received on Thu May 28 2015 - 00:44:21 PST

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