Free Basics by Facebook Available in Cambodia

[Screenshot of FreeBasics in Khmer]

[Cambodia at A Glance] The total population in Cambodia was last recorded at 15.33 million people in 2014 reported by the World Bank. The internet subscriptions increased from 3.86 million in 2013 to over 6.2 million in 2015 ⁽¹⁾. The below chart illustrates the growth figures:

And the number of mobile phone subscribers had over 21 million (21,692,144 subscribers) at the 2nd quarter of 2015 ⁽²⁾ - the increasing leads Cambodia became the first country in the world with more mobile phones than fixed-line phones ⁽³⁾. The below chart illustrates the figures:

With the use of smartphones and internet home use surging, Khmer youth are increasingly using social media. The most used social platform is by no doubt Facebook with 1.2 million users in 2014 ⁽⁴⁾. The below graph which is illustrated by StatCounter Global Stats about Top 7 Social Media Sites in Cambodia from Jan 2014 to Oct 2015 (All platforms: Desktop, Mobile, Tablet, Console), Facebook is really the most popular social media in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

By seeing that, in a post yesterday (in Khmer languge), Smart Axiata in cooperation with Facebook want all Cambodians to explore the magic of Internet which provides you access to basic Internet resources, FREE OF CHARGE.

[Related: Smart Mobile - the First to Operate 4G LTE in Cambodia]

Free Basics empowers you to discover and access lots of information out of diverse topics:

• Study
• Business
• Health
• Entertainment 

If you are new to the world of Internet, THIS is for you! To use, simply download the “Free Basics by Facebook” Android App or go to www.freebasics.com from your phone, exclusively for Smart subscribers.

Smart ចង់អោយប្រជាជនកម្ពុជាទាំងអស់បានស្វែងយល់ពី­ភាពអស្ចារ្យរបស់អុិនធឺណិត ហេតុនេះហើយទើប Smart បានសហការជាមួយ Facebook ដើម្ប...
Posted by Smart Axiata on Thursday, October 8, 2015

Free Basics is a new project of Facebook company, which recently uses in the world, and Cambodia is the 22nd country where Facebook launched this project. The purpose of project with the collaboration of Smart is to connect people more than 1 million people have access to basic Internet resources for free.

 All users who are using the Smart company's services are able to use some basic level which are useful both Khmer and English including the website of Facebook, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, Ask, Bing, Messenger. The service will run from today onwards ⁽⁵⁾.

References:

• (1)  Internet Subcribers, Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC)
• (2) Mobile Phone Subscribers, Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC)
• (3) We Are Social’s Guide to Social, Digital and Mobile in Cambodia (2nd Edition, Oct 2012)
• (4) The "Cambodia: Social Media Fact - Sheet, June 2014"by Media Matters
• (5) Free Basics by Facebook, Sabay News (Khmer)