Archive:Mobile partnerships

The Wikimedia Foundation is engaged in a number of mobile partnerships.

General questions

Q: Why is the Wikimedia Foundation partnering with mobile operators?

A: The short answer is to make free knowledge more accessible. One of the major goals of WMF is for Wikimedia sites to reach 1 billion people by 2015 (in April 2013, we reached 517 million). As mobile phone connections begin to outnumber PC connections in much of the world, it is expected that a large number of the next 500 million users will come from mobile. In order to introduce new readers, and contributors, to Wikipedia via mobile devices we need to do two things: 1) Help them discover it and 2) Reduce barriers to accessing it. Every mobile partnership will be designed to address these objectives.

Q: What is the main program? What is Wikipedia Zero?

A: Our primary mobile partnership program is to work with mobile operators to allow their customers to access Wikipedia without incurring data charges. The program is called Wikipedia Zero, the "zero" part meaning "zero" cost to the user. The concept is simple: a mobile operator "zero-rates" (i.e. waives data charges) for users accessing a version of the Wikipedia mobile site.

Q: Is it the same as other zero projects? Are you partnering with Facebook Zero?

A: This is not a partnership with Facebook or any other similarly branded zero program. They are the same in that they allow users in developing countries access to the sites without paying data charges. Our initiative was inspired by the concept of Facebook Zero, but this is not a program between the Wikimedia Foundation and Facebook or any other web or mobile sites.

Q: Why would any mobile carrier give free access to one service and not another?

A: We can't speak on behalf of mobile carriers or other services, but a principal reason for giving Wikipedia for free is that it is a public good and not monetized. Partners agree with our philosophy that access to free knowledge should be a fundamental human right.

Q: Are partners paying the Wikimedia Foundation to be able to deliver these types of programs? Is the Wikimedia Foundation paying partners?

A: No. The partnerships do not produce revenue for the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Wikimedia Foundation is not paying partners.

Q: What exactly does the Wikimedia Foundation get from carriers for these kinds of partnerships?

A: The only goal of these partnerships is to advance the free knowledge mission. They drive awareness of Wikipedia, make it easier for people to discover the sites, and reduce barriers to accessing it.

Q: What does the partner get? Why would they do it?

A: There is a marketing benefit for them. Customers are more likely to buy from and be more loyal to an operator that supports the mission, and even more so if that operator provides Wikipedia without data charges. Partners often create campaigns as well to promote free Wikipedia access. Additionally, in the case of Wikipedia Zero, it helps introduce people to the usefulness of the mobile internet, which means more customers for operators in the long-term.

Q: Are you making 'exclusive' deals to partners for specific territories?

A: No. We will not do any exclusive deals.

Q: Would you do any partnerships that don't involve free Wikipedia?

A: Wikipedia Zero is the priority for all partnerships, but is not the only way we partner. Some partners may, for example, offering Wikipedia through text message (program under development) or pre-load a Wikipedia app on the devices they sell. This helps achieve the discovery and accessibility objectives.

Q: What parts of the world are you working with?

A: We are focusing on the areas of the world, which have the greatest need to reduce barriers so people can have access to knowledge. Those areas include most countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Q: Do you think there are people in developed countries that could also benefit from free Wikipedia?

A: Definitely. We need to prioritize though on places where impact will be greatest, which means countries in which the barriers to access (data cost relative to income) are greatest and where the gap between mobile penetration and desktop penetration is higher.

Q: Are the partners hosting Wikipedia on their own servers and re-offering it for free to customers?

A: No. Nothing is changed about the way Wikipedia is hosted.

Q: How is the Wikimedia Foundation making these programs possible? What is the technical overhead? How much does it cost?

A: Implementing Wikipedia Zero in many countries around the world requires a variety of work, including marketing, legal, communications, technical development, and support. Mobile is one of our primary strategic priorities and is funded by the core Wikimedia Foundation program budget as it gives access to Wikipedia to people that normally couldn't afford to use it on their mobile devices.

Q: These kinds of deals are great if you have a mobile phone that can render data, but what is the Wikimedia Foundation doing to increase reach for people without those types of phones?

A: This is also a priority, and we are working on developing SMS and USSD services in which a user can search Wikipedia and read articles without a data-enabled phone. Unlike Wikipedia Zero, which utilizes the existing mobile site, these programs require additional infrastructure. For that reason, we anticipate being able to roll out those services later in 2013.

Q: Why isn't editing included in these kinds of systems? Obviously we could be getting new users to edit and read from their mobile devices.

A: In July 2013 the Wikimedia Foundation announced that mobile editing has been enabled on Wikimedia sites for users with Wikimedia accounts. The ability to edit Wikipedia from a mobile device has been in the Wikimedia Foundation's product roadmap and with the feature enabled, users can now contribute to Wikipedia on-the-go.

Q: What role do community members have in these partnerships?

A: Community plays a vital role in helping us discover the opportunities to expand mobile reach and how to improve the experience for contributors and readers. We are also working on new ways in which community can help evangelize the Wikipedia Zero program.

Q: Are the Wikipedia apps part of Wikipedia Zero? For information on Wikipedia Zero support within the 2014 updated releases of the Wikipedia apps for Android and iOS, see the Wikipedia Zero App FAQ.

Where is Wikipedia free to access?

Where is Wikipedia free to access?

Country	Carrier	Free as of	Which version is free?	Which languages are free?	HTTPS/Apps	Proxy zero-rating / other details
Uganda	Orange	April 4, 2012	m.wikipedia only	en, fr, ko, de, zh, sw, rw, ar, hi, es		None
Tunisia	Orange	April 24, 2012	m.wikipedia only	ar, en, fr, es, de, it, ru, jp, zh		None
Malaysia	Digi	May 21, 2012	zero.wikipedia only	All languages		Opera Mini only (no direct access zero-rated)
Niger	Orange	July 2, 2012	m.wikipedia only	All languages		None
Kenya	Orange	July 26, 2012	m.wikipedia only	All languages		None
Montenegro	Telenor	August 10, 2012	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Cameroon	Orange	August 16, 2012	m.wikipedia only	fr, en, es, de, zh, ar, ha, ln, yo, eo		None
Ivory Coast	Orange	September 28, 2012	m.wikipedia only	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Thailand	dtac	October 11, 2012	zero.wikipedia only	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Saudi Arabia	STC	October 14, 2012	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	ar, en, ur, bn, tl		None
Democratic Republic of Congo	Orange	December 6, 2012	m.wikipedia only	All languages		None
Botswana	Orange	February 8, 2013	m.wikipedia only	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Russia	Beeline	March 28, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	ru, en		Opera Mini supported
Indonesia	XL Axiata	April 1, 2013	zero.wikipedia only	id, en, zh, ar, hi, ms, jv, su		None
Pakistan	Mobilink	May 31, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	en, ur		Opera Mini supported
Sri Lanka	Dialog	June 25, 2013	zero.wikipedia only	en, si, ta		None
India	Aircel	July 25, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Madagascar	Orange	September 21, 2013	m.wikipedia only	fr, en, mg	Yes	None
Jordan	Umniah	September 29, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages	Yes	Opera Mini supported
Bangladesh	Banglalink	October 6, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	en, bn		None
Kenya	Airtel	October 24, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Tajikistan	Tcell	November 19, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Kazakhstan	Beeline	November 25, 2013	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	ru, kk, en		Opera Mini supported
Bangladesh	Grameenphone	December 16, 2013	zero.wikipedia only	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Tajikistan	Babilon-Mobile	Jan 15, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
South Africa	MTN	Feb 28, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages	Yes (No apps)	Opera Mini only (no direct access zero-rated)
Kenya	Safaricom	March 1, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Kosovo	IPKO	March 23, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Nepal	Ncell	May 7, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages	Yes	None
Kyrgyzstan	Beeline	May 16, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		Opera Mini supported
Nigeria	Airtel	May 28, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		None
Rwanda	MTN	June 3, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages	Yes	None
Mongolia	G-Mobile	June 4, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages	Yes	None
Bangladesh	Airtel	June 26, 2014	m.wikipedia & zero.wikipedia	All languages		Opera Mini supported

Note on version: Partners are either giving free access to m.wikipedia.org (mobile version), zero.wikipedia.org (mobile text-only version), or both. In the future, most partnerships will be offering both.