Hello,
2012/10/16 Kul Wadhwa kwadhwa@wikimedia.org:
The goal in working with Intigral/STC is to remove barriers so more people in the world can have access to free knowledge, and in this specific case it's in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. There isn't a "deal" here that involves content management, revenue (no money exchanges hands), or anything that affects the normal way we support the projects. You can find more info on our Q&A here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships#STC
If we did not launch Wikipedia Zero in Saudi Arabia then that would mean that people in the region would still have to pay to access Wikipedia through their mobile phones. And that financial cost, which may be nominal or tolerable for some of us, it's very prohibitive to many more people. As other mobile operators such as Orange and Telenor have done, Intigral/STC graciously offered to eliminate that cost to eliminate the cost barrier. It's limited to that. The Wikimedia Foundation has not, and will not, censor or block any content whatsoever as part of its partnership with Intigral/STC.
-- Kul Wadhwa Head of Mobile Wikimedia Foundation
Thanks Kul for your message. The suspiction came also because of a mention of "improving content in the Arabic Wikipedia." I understand now that it is separate issue.
Regards,
Yann