[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Foundation and Saudi Telecom (STC) partner to provide access to Wikipedia free of mobile data charges in the Middle East

[Kul Wadhwa]

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