In Phillippines, Zero Rating May Correlate with Ability to Pay for Mobile Data

In at least in one country that has embraced zero rating--the Philippines--where consumers have no-charge access to Facebook Basics, and where mobile data rates tend to be low, relatively fewer consumers report they do not use mobile data because of cost. 

According to one study by Pew Research, frequent difficulty paying for mobile phone use is highest in Kenya (24 percent), Jordan (22 percent) and Venezuela (19 percent) and is lowest in India (8 percent), Vietnam (7 percent) and the Philippines (6 percent).

source: Pew Research

Correlation is not causation. Even some who try to argue for causal relationships between Free Basics and other developments seem to admit there is no causal relationship. Likewise, we cannot tell for sure how much Free Basics contributes to internet usage in the Philippines, in large part because mobile data prices are relatively low. 

But correlation is hard to miss. In the Philippines, internet access doubled in two years after Free Basics was introduced, in a test by Globe Telecom. 

Offered In collaboration with mobile operators, Free Basics allows people to experience at some of the relevance and benefits of being online, without paying for a data plan, Facebook argues. Such services also allow consumers unfamiliar with mobile internet access and apps to experience them, growing the market for mobile data services. 

The argument against allowing such services is that they offer a walled garden service that benefits the supplier (Facebook in this case) even as it offers value for users; or discriminate against other firms not able to offer such access. For those who support this line of reasoning, no access is a better outcome than some access, at least as a first step. 

“Free Basics acts as an onramp to the broader internet, with services such as news, health information, local jobs, communications tools, education resources, and local government information,” says Facebook. “Any mobile operator can participate, and Free Basics is open to any service that meets the program's technical criteria, which are openly published.”