Free Wikipedia access offered to 135 million Telenor customers in Asia and Europe

By Rebecca Sharples

WIKIMEDIA Foundation last week announced a new partnership with Telenor to offer free Wikipedia mobile access to 135 million Telenor customers in Asia and Europe.

This 3-year partnership supports Wikimedia's mobile strategy, which aims to provide free and open knowledge to billions of people around the world whose primary access to the Internet is via a mobile device.

Wikimedia Chief Global Development officer, Barry Newstead, said: “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. Through this partnership we move a step closer to providing the sum of all knowledge to everyone in the world.”

Telenor strives to bring more value to its customers of rural and underserved communities in Asia. The company has already served 300,000 Bangladeshi students and school children with the ability to explore open knowledge on the Internet, through the I-Genius Project. 

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Wikimedia Foundation.” said 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 agreement between Telenor and Wikimedia Foundation is signed by seven countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Montenegro, and Serbia, with more markets expected to join by the end of this year.

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