Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'For Every 10 People Connected To The Internet, Roughly One Is Lifted Out Of Poverty'

hopes to gain regulatory approval for a project that will provide a free internet service to the poor in India. As part of Zuckerberg's initiative (also known as Free Basics), millions of poor people would receive free internet access to a handful of websites through mobile devices. According to

, India's Telecom Regulatory Authority recently ordered a suspension of the service as advocates noted that Zuckerberg's plan violates the principle that the entire internet should be available to all and unrestricted by any one company. Zuckerberg fired back in an

which was published in The Times of India. Zuckerberg compared his initiative to a library, noting that "they don't contain every book, but they still provide a world of good." He added, "for every 10 people connected to the internet, roughly one is lifted out of poverty" and "for India to make progress, more than 1 billion people need to be connected to the internet." "This isn't about Facebook's commercial interests – there aren't even any ads in the version of Facebook in Free Basics," Zuckerberg also wrote. "If people lose access to free basic services they will simply lose access to the opportunities offered by the internet today."