Grameenphone, the largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, has partnered up with Wikimedia Foundation to provide Wikipedia for Grameenphone users free of cost.

The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. The Wikimedia Foundation operates some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia (the world’s largest online encyclopedia).

Using the power of the internet, the partnership between Grameenphone and Wikimedia will make information accessible and affordable for the people of Bangladesh who use mobile internet. Earlier it was http://zero.wikipedia.org but currently full version i.e. http://m.wikipedia.org will be free.

Any active subscriber of Grameenphone can avail this service. If a subscriber has a data pack, no data consumption will happen from the data pack on browsing http://m.wikipedia.org or the Wikipedia app.

"Grameenphone is delighted to partner with Wikimedia Foundation to offer free Wikipedia browsing facilities for the people of Bangladesh. I believe this offer will help our new data users to access a vast array of information and extract highly useful information for free. People using the service will get a grasp of the benefits of the internet, which will take them a step closer to a digital lifestyle," said Yasir Azman, Chief Marketing Officer, Grameenphone.

The initiative is part of the Wikimedia Foundation’s mobile strategy, which focuses on reaching the billions of people around the world whose primary opportunity to access the Internet is via a mobile device. “Today, The Wikimedia Foundation celebrates Grameenphone for providing free access to the full Wikipedia experience. This is another step forward in our mission to bring knowledge to all and to expand access on our mobile platforms. Now, millions of people in Bangladesh can take part in and help expand the world's largest free knowledge resource,” said Adele Vrana, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Global Emerging Markets, Wikimedia Foundation.”

To avail this service, a user needs to browse http://m.wikipedia.org or download the Wikipedia app. A user can avail it for free via Grameenphone Easynet platform too. The partnership is an integral part of Grameenphone’s ‘Knowledge for All’ initiative.