Facebook working to overcome slow internet issue in India

Patchy internet speed is something all of us Indians suffer from, on a daily basis. Facebook has now found a way to bypass that issue to give the freedom to its users to watch online content anytime—online or offline.

After taking into account the feedback from its second largest market about limited mobile data and internet connectivity, leading to poor video experiences, Facebook is testing an option for people to download videos to the social network platform while they’re online on good internet connections, and view the video at any time, online or offline, without using extra mobile data.

Facebook will launch a pilot project to test the feature on July 11. India is one of the most important markets for Facebook, especially outside the US. The internet usage in India is increasing, while it is tapering off in developed countries. In 2015, internet usage in India grew 40 percent. However, penetration of the net in India is at around 15 percent. This throws up a massive opportunity for internet giants like Facebook and Google.

Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong are among the top 10 countries with the best internet speeds globally. But India ranks poorly, at 114, behind the Philippines at 107. That’s the reason internet search company Google has been developing and pushing apps in India that can be navigated offline. In December 2014, YouTube launched the offline viewing feature in India.