Facebook has a big new plan to make money in India

One task of writing about a vast multinational company with a huge user base is sometimes to move on to topics I don't personally know. For example, the Indian telecommunications market where Facebook is an important player. On Tuesday, the company announced that it had invested $ 5.7 billion in Jio Platforms Limited and became the company's largest minority shareholder.

If you live outside of India and are not interested in which carrier you own, I understand why your eyes may start shining here. Large companies always invest in other large companies. And we are going through all this trendy thing all over the world. Of course, this is the biggest check that Facebook has recorded since purchasing WhatsApp in 2014. But why pay attention to Facebook buying 9.99% of mobile carriers?

First, India is one of the largest markets in the world, and depending on how Facebook can succeed, it can determine the future of the medium term. Second, Facebook's history in India is complex, as efforts to provide free Facebook access have been criticized by net neutral activists and dissatisfied with digital colonialism.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the world is in chaos. And if you're a confused person, it's always interesting to see which betting company bets on when all around is in flames.

Ben Thompson has a beautiful and concise history of Jio. Stratechery It helps explain why Facebook considers it a friendly spirit. India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani has invested heavily in building a 4G network that goes beyond existing 2G and 3G networks, providing dusty voice and data plans to hundreds of millions of customers. Thompson writes:

In other words, Jio has a marginal cost of zero or at least significantly lower marginal cost than its competitors. This meant it was an optimal strategy. — Spend huge sums upfront, then try to serve a large number of consumers to get the most out of your prepaid investment.

That's what Jio did. It spent $ 325 billion building a network covering all of India and starting offering free data and free voice for three months. Data cost in gigabytes. It was a classic Silicon Valley bet. After spending your money upfront, zero-margin technology with no limitations of technology allows you to make large amounts of money due to its outstanding cost structure.

Of course, how Facebook is organized, the company makes the most of its money by showing ads to its customers without charging for a subscription fee. However, as a result, the service brought hundreds of millions of Indians online, and as Thompson pointed out, Jio provided a full Internet, not the pocket version offered by Facebook's previous Free Basics plan. (India violated net neutrality and banned in 2016)

The story of this deal all depends on explaining how both companies can profit. Jio gets a lot of money to extend the runway. And Facebook has a strong political alliance in the well-connected Ambani and offers several new options related to commerce. Most guesses focus on how Facebook uses WhatsApp, which has 400 million users in India, but doesn't generate much money yet. Newley Purnell's next Wall Street Journal:

Access to this platform can help Jio in pursuing an ambitious plan to dominate e-commerce in rural areas where most Indians live, and is trying to partner with millions of small Indian moms and pop grocery stores. For example, consumers can use WhatsApp to purchase products from nearby stores that Jio has subscribed to through cheap POS machines.

"E-commerce in India will take place in a very localized way," said Tarun Pathak, an analyst with research firm Counterpoint. He said, "I have a familiarity with WhatsApp," not a PC, but an inexpensive smartphone. "It makes sense."

At Bloomberg, Andy Mukherjee and Tim Culpan have long speculated that a close partnership between a mobile operator and WhatsApp could turn the messenger into a WeChat-style "super app". It has been a dream of Facebook for a long time and it has not been realized so far. They are few:

Customers in China and Indonesia prefer the super app so they can chat with people or interact with umbrella brands, from taxi bookings and money management. Ambani may be best suited for using models in India, especially if you are building your model around the popular WhatsApp.

Of course, people are concerned. Indian Internet Freedom Foundation Warn against anti-competitive effects It is recommended to provide Jio and Facebook together. Nicholas Dawes talks about threads Tangle with the Indian government This new agreement can bring. Everyone is watching.

Earlier this week, I mentioned that Facebook has discovered a new way to convey key strategic messages during the plague. Its vast size and free speech spirit are good for the world. Facebook is benefiting in a whole new way, when the investment in Geo is very uncertain.

Podcast

Many people were happy to be able to attend yesterday. Interface live Author Sarah Frier and No filter: Instagram's internal story. For those who missed, our conversation is now available as a special episode. Burger CastYou can use it on any platform you like here.

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Today there is news that can influence the public perception of the big technology platform.

⬆️ Trends: zoom In recent months, we have released a new version of the software that addresses many of the security flaws highlighted. Now there are security icons that allow people to lock meetings quickly, remove participants, and limit screen sharing and chat in meetings.

⬇️ Trend Down: Amazon I fired another warehouse employee who protested the company's working conditions. The company continues to hold strong criticism of treating warehouse workers during the coronavirus epidemic.

Infectious diseases worldwide epidemic

⭐ The man who died at home in Santa Clara County on February 6 was COVID-19. This discovery became the first recorded coronavirus death in the United States and adds evidence that the virus was in the country much earlier than previously thought. Erin All Day and Matt Kawahara San Francisco Chronicle report:

On Tuesday, Santa Clara County announced three unidentified deaths from the corona virus. One is ahead of the first believed death on February 17th. One on March 6. Initially, the county's first death was reported on March 9.

"It means that the Comoros virus circulates much earlier than we thought, much faster than we thought," said Dr. Sarah Cody, director of public health for Santa Clara County. “These deaths represent far more infections. So there had to be a transport chain going back much earlier. ”

⭐ Palen TyrData mining company founded by Peter Teal, Is working with the Department of Health and Human Services to help the federal government create a new corona virus data platform. This platform helps management personnel to determine the COVID-19's "Diffusion Prevention and Prevention Prevention" method. Erin Banco and Spencer A. Common Daily beast There is a story:

Palantir's involvement in the construction of a new government coronavirus data platform system emphasizes the president's dependence on close political allies to combat the global pandemic. Thiel was Trump's first and most famous supporter in Silicon Valley and made a major speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Thiel, the best contributor to conservative causes and Facebook's first external investor, Wall Street JournalHelps promote social networking giants, allowing politicians to place ads on the platform. It is believed that many outside observers will help the Trump campaign, and Till promised to support it again.

At least 7 people received COVID-19 in the Wisconsin primary election on April 7. This news confirms the fear that voting directly during the health crisis will put people at risk. (Amanda Becker / Reuters)

US officials claim that viral text messages are false President erase An order was issued by Chinese agents to close the country. It is the latest corona virus myth that is linked to the Chinese government. (Edward ,, Matthew Rosenberg, Julian Barnes / New York Times)

Groups connected by Iran Twitter and Instagram The account actively pushed California to withdraw from the United States to instill discord. Although the corona virus is not explicitly mentioned, this campaign seems to be designed to exploit fear and weakness during the pandemic. (Mega La Sleeping Palan / Buzz feed)

The court zoom Because of the constant epidemic. Critics are concerned that it can reduce the transparency of the justice system. (Joe Schiffer / The Budge)

zoom I had to turn people into slops. Instead, they've been staring at the camera all day, making their looks much more conscious. (Joe Bernard / Information)

YouTube The number of hits on the "official" news video increased by 75% earlier this year. The video is provided by legitimate news media, government agencies and health authorities such as the World Health Organization. The obvious follow-up question: What is your opinion on the absolute nonsense conspiracy theories on YouTube now? (Richard Nieva / CNET)

Venture capitalist in viral essay Marc Andre Sen The corona virus crisis is partly due to the “loss of our extensive building capabilities”. However, Ezra Klein says the US government has become accustomed to exercising veto power without voting for projects where the federal, state and local governments are building sound.

Part Leon Due to the economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus epidemic, 30 employees were fired. 13% of company employees. (J. Peters / The budge)

Magic leap During the COVID-19 crisis, half of the workforce (about 1,000) is being cut as part of a major restructuring. Augmented Reality startups have raised over $ 2 billion from renowned investors including Alphabet and Alibaba. Mag Leaps has become a first-generation company and is now moving away from consumer business. (Ed Hammond / Bloomberg)

Indian startups are delaying IPV plans, reducing investment size, and embracing adverse bridge rounds due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The next two quarters are expected to be particularly painful for many companies. (Adity Shree Basta Bar / Eastern technology)

Virus tracker

Total US cases: 822,239 or more

Total deaths in the United States: 41,000 or more

Examples reported in California: 35,974

Cases reported in New York: 257,246

Cases reported in New Jersey: 95,865

Examples reported in Massachusetts: 41,199

Data New York Times.

rule

A child who made fake candidates for Congress to test Twitter The verification policy wrote an essay on why he did it. “If you can do this with little time and money, imagine what skilled people with real damage can do,” he said. Probably a lot!

industry

Instagram The death of COVID-19 is accelerating plans for new account memorial features. The company announces the death of a person by adding a “remember” banner with the username. (Katino Polos / Buzz feed)

Facebook Currently, we are launching the Messenger Kids app in over 70 new countries. The company has listed Brazil, India, Japan and New Zealand among countries currently offering child-oriented messaging services. (John Porter / The budge)

On sunday, zoom It is also releasing the ability for people to report Zoombombing incidents in real time. This feature generates a report to help Zoom determine if an attacker should block the platform. (Michael Khan / mashable)

AmazonOwned home surveillance company ring We are considering adding license plate scanning and face recognition capabilities to consumer products. The company released a confidential survey to beta testers to measure demand for features. (Kate Cox / Are Technica)

Google We're starting to release the ability for users to customize their voice detection sensitivity on Google Assistant devices. This allows people to increase or decrease the sensitivity of Google Assistant devices to choosing the "Hey Google" command. (Taylor Ryles / The budge)

Mother of big baby with virus Tik's Flick I want people to stop doing something so meaningful. (Cameron Wilson / Buzz feed)

A thing to do

Goods that occupy you online during the quarantine period.

Join the virtual scavenger hunt on May 2nd. The team of 5 players will solve the mystery and play the game, where 10% of the proceeds will compete with COVID-19 relief.

And lastly…

Talk to us

Send us your tips, comments, questions and plans for India Facebook. casey@theverge.com And zoe@theverge.com.