Airtel Ghana, one of the country’s leading telecommunication service providers, has partnered Facebook to make the service free to its subscribers.

The deal, which is also part of Facebook’s plan to make internet and social media access to millions of people free, will come at absolutely no cost to subscribers.

Facebook in 2013 launched Internet.org with the aim of bringing affordable internet access to everybody by increasing affordability, increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models.

Founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg commenting on the initiative said: “Today we're launching Internet.org in Ghana -- giving people on the Airtel network access to free basic internet services for education, health, jobs and communication.”

According to him, “Right now only about 12% of people in Ghana are connected to the internet, but connectivity is already improving people's lives and communities.”

He observed that by connecting everyone, “we hope to unlock even more opportunities for Ghana… Ghana is the fifth country we’ve connected through Internet.org -- after Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Colombia.”