Tech Giants Form Another Group to Bring the Internet to the Global Masses Google, along with several other companies, form the Alliance for an Affordable Internet.
By Jason Fell
A group of tech giants along with multi-national organizations have formed a new coalition to help spread internet access around the world. If this news sounds familiar, that's because it sort of is.
The coalition, which launched today, is called the Alliance for an Affordable Internet. It is sponsored by Google along with economic, development and humanitarian assistance group USAID and the UK Department for International Development.
The goal is to help "connect the two-thirds of the world that is presently not connected to the internet" by advocating for open and competitive broadband internet rates across the world, the alliance says in a press release.
In August, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a similarly ambitious organization called internet.org. That group -- with member companies including Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and others -- is also charged with finding ways to bring the internet to the same two-thirds of the world that the Alliance for an Affordable Internet is targeting.
In addition to Google, other tech companies that have thrown support behind the Alliance for an Affordable Internet include Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco, Intel and, not surprisingly, Facebook.
How the two groups will be different, or will work together if at all, is not yet clear. A press representative for the Alliance for an Affordable Internet did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
In the meantime, it looks like Zuckerberg is part of at least two major initiatives to get the world online and, presumably, logging onto Facebook.
Related: With New Organization, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Wants Everyone on the Planet to Be Online
