Subscribers of one the largest mobile operators in the Philippines will be able to access free mobile Internet following a new agreement. Globe Telecom and Google are providing a new service centred on the latter’s products, including its search engine as well as its Gmail and Google+ functions.
Google product manager Abdel Karim Mardini said: "It's aimed at the next billion users of the Internet, many of whom will be in emerging markets and encounter the Internet first on a mobile phone , without ever owning a PC."
The service is branded as ‘Free Zone’ and is planned for launch in other markets. While there are currently around 33 million Globe Telecom subscribers, the majority of the installed base uses only the voice and SMS functionality of their handsets.
Reportedly, the Free Zone service would allow users free access to any websites which feature in the results of a Google search. Any attempts to browse sites that did not appear in a search would be met with an instruction to sign up to one of Globe Telecom’s data plans.
The service will reportedly be handset agnostic, with Google stating that it would be compatible with ‘basic phones’. Smartphones are proving popular in the Philippines but are far from dominating the market.
