Angolan telecommunications company Unitel has agreed on a partnership with Wikimedia Foundation to be part of Wikipedia Zero project. According to Wikimedia Foundation: “This project aims to gather telecommunications operators to provide “zero-rates” access to Wikimedia sites in their billing system, so their subscribers will not incur data charges while accessing Wikipedia and the sister projects on the mobile web or apps.
As Wikimedia recognizes the user is on that operator’s network and serves a banner on the top of the page indicating free data courtesy of their mobile operator. When the user leaves the Wikimedia sites, they see a warning message and are asked to confirm, so there is no confusion or risk of surprise charges”.
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.
Now, all Unitel clients will have free access to this service and with no limits whatsoever, using either 2G or 3G mobile devices. According to Unitel press release, this initiative will allow an easier access to information, promote economic growth and wider knowledge gathering.
Bom dia Angola 