NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Facebook Inc.’s controversial plan to get Indians online may have failed earlier this year, but the company says it is making a new push to expand internet access in the country, a key market for future user growth.

In the new effort, which Facebook is callingExpress Wifi, the Menlo Park, Calif. company is working with internet service providers, or ISPs, and carriers to provide wireless hot spots in rural parts of the country, such as mom-and-pop shops, where users can get cheap access to the internet.

“We are currently in the early stages of testing Express Wi-Fi with multiple local ISP partners in India,” a Facebook spokesman said in a statement.