Telenor makes Wikipedia available to 135 million customers in Asia and Europe
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
(San Francisco, California and Oslo, Norway - February 28, 2012) Telenor Group
and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a new partnership to offer
Wikipedia free of traffic charges on mobile devices to Telenor customers in Asia
and Southeastern Europe. By making versions of Wikipedia available to 135
million mobile customers, Telenor Group and the Wikimedia Foundation demonstrate
a shared commitment to increasing access to the free and open knowledge
available on Wikipedia.
This initiative is part of the Wikimedia Foundation's mobile strategy, which
focuses on reaching the billions of people around the world whose primary
opportunity to access the Internet is via a mobile device.
"The Wikimedia Foundation is working to remove barriers to free knowledge, and
for most people around the world right now, cost and accessibility are the two
biggest hurdles," says Barry Newstead, Wikimedia Chief Global Development
Officer. "We applaud Telenor for joining us to deliver free access to Wikipedia
for their customers. Through this partnership, we move a step closer to
providing the sum of all knowledge to everyone in the world."
This partnership supports Telenor's commitment to bring more value to its mobile
customers. Especially, the company has pioneered the development of value-adding
services to rural and underserved communities in Asia. Telenor involve millions
in Asia through the I-Genius project, which has already reached out to 300,000
Bangladeshi students and school-children with a call to explore open knowledge
on the internet.
"We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Wikimedia Foundation.
Telenor have pioneered affordable, mobile communications across much of Asia,
and we have built a track record of offering vital services with a significant
outreach" says Kristin Skogen Lund, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital
Services at Telenor Group. "With this agreement, we are first in Asia to bring a
vast knowledge source to the millions in underserved communities across the
region."
The 3-year partnership between Telenor Group and the Wikimedia Foundation will
cover 135 million users. The agreement is signed by seven countries: Thailand,
Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Montenegro, and Serbia. By the end of the
year, more markets are expected to join. The agreement will be implemented step
by step throughout 2012, with the first markets launching during the second
quarter.
Each local Telenor affiliate will establish technical solutions together with
the Wikimedia Foundation. Customers with a Telenor SIM will be able to access a
version of the encyclopedia for as many times as they like in a given period, at
no charge, as long as they stay within Wikipedia's pages.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
http://wikimediafoundation.org
http://blog.wikimedia.org
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the
other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 482
million unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most popular web
property world-wide (comScore, January 2012). Available in 282 languages,
Wikipedia contains more than 20 million articles contributed by a global
volunteer community of more than 100,000 people. Based in San Francisco,
California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is
funded primarily through donations and grants.
Contact information:
Tor Odland
Vice President, Communications
Telenor Group
+47 9909 0872
tor.odland(at)telenor.com
Jay Walsh
Head of Communications
Wikimedia Foundation
+1 415-839-6885, ext 6609
jwalsh(at)wikimedia.org
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Telenor via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1589478]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 28.02.2012 - 09:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 119230
Anzahl Zeichen: 4719
contact information:
Town:
OSLO
Kategorie:
Business News
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