Facebook no longer offers free internet.
Facebook's Connectivity division is closing after nearly 10 years of operation, following the layoff of more than 11,000 employees last month.
According toLight LightingMeta has confirmed the closure of its Connectivity division as part of a company restructuring effort. The link to the project is still active, with the latest news dating back to August. Sources indicate that assets belonging to the Connectivity division have been distributed between Meta's Infrastructure and Product-centric groups.
Meta Connectivity (formerly Facebook Connectivity) is an initiative launched by Facebook in 2013, with the goal of bringing the internet to more people, thereby increasing the number of users of the company's social network.
One of Connectivity's most notable activities is providing free internet to developing countries through partnerships with telecommunications companies. Last October, Meta announced that the service had provided internet to over 300 million users. However, it has also faced controversy regarding incorrect charges for users accessing Facebook.
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| Meta Connectivity's Express Wi-Fi project provided public Wi-Fi in over 30 countries earlier this year. (Image caption:Meta |
Additionally, Meta Connectivity also undertook the Aquila project, which aimed to provide internet access to hard-to-reach areas using LTE-connected drones. This project closed in 2018 after several test flights resulted in drone malfunctions. Another project involved providing internet via satellite, similar to Starlink, but this also faced difficulties when many key personnel left to work for Amazon last April.
However, the primary reason for the closure of Meta Connectivity was a restructuring aimed at streamlining the workforce and optimizing costs. In the November layoffs, Mark Zuckerberg's company dismissed 11,000 people, equivalent to 13% of its staff. Dan Rabinovitsj, the head of Meta Connectivity, remains with the company, but his role is unclear.
Over the past year, Meta has seen a significant decline in business as its advertising revenue decreased, while the company shifted its focus to developing the metaverse and investing tens of billions of dollars in related technologies. In recent news updates on the Connectivity website, Meta still expresses its ambition to popularize high-speed internet, thereby attracting users to the metaverse it is building. "Our hope is that the metaverse will reach over one billion users in the next decade. This future depends on reimagining the connectivity infrastructure," the website states.
According toLight LightingDespite ceasing operations of its Connectivity division, Meta remains involved in the Telecom Infra Project (TIP). This is a telecommunications infrastructure project initiated by Meta in 2016, in collaboration with Intel, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, and SK Telecom, aimed at promoting internet infrastructure worldwide.
