Uninor offers free access to Wikipedia | Internet for All

Uninor has announced free access to Wikipedia for its internet subscribers. The initiative is a part of their ‘Internet for All’ ambition through which Uninor aims to remove obstacles in accessing relevant information by mobile phone users who can’t afford data charges.

As a part of the programme, Uninor employees will engage with students and teachers to spread awareness on digital literacy with special focus on Wikipedia in the rural areas.

“By giving free access to Wikipedia, Uninor will be able to put this repository of knowledge in the hands of the masses and empower the society,” said Vivek Sood, CEO, Telewings Communications Services Pvt Ltd (Uninor).

In 2012, Telenor committed to bring Wikipedia to its customers free of data charges through a partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation. Following the agreement, free access to Wikipedia on mobile phones has been launched in Telenor Business units in Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Montenegro.

Last year, Uninor had introduced service-based plans for Facebook and WhatsApp for its subscribers. The disruptive product innovation brought a paradigm shift by charging customers for the services rendered rather than the amount of data consumed.

With the introduction of free Wikipedia and more such services in the pipeline, Uninor plans to have 50% of its users on Internet by 2017. The free access to Wikipedia will be available for three months starting April 1.