Inspec’ng the Free Bridge Across Digital Divide: Assessing the Quality of Facebook’s Free Basics Service Rijurekha Sen 1 , Hasnain Ali Pirzada 3 , Amreesh Phokeer 4 , Zaid Ahmed Farooq 3 , Satadal Sengupta 5 , David Choffnes 2 , Krishna P. Gummadi 1
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Inspec'ng the Free Bridge Across Digital Divide: Assessing the Quality of Facebook’s Free Basics Service
Rijurekha Sen1, Hasnain Ali Pirzada3, Amreesh Phokeer4, Zaid Ahmed Farooq3, Satadal Sengupta5,
David Choffnes2, Krishna P. Gummadi1
Facebook’s Free Basics – what is it?
2
Facebook’s Free Basics – what is it?
Image from: hTps://info.internet.org/en/
3
Facebook’s Free Basics – what is it?
Image from: hTps://info.internet.org/en/
4
Facebook’s Free Basics – what is it?
Zero-‐rated web service offering, hoping to bridge digital divide.
Image from: hTps://info.internet.org/en/
5
Facebook’s Free Basics – where is it?
6
Facebook’s Free Basics – where is it?
53 countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America.
14 new countries added since May 2016.
7
Image from: hTps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19202338
Facebook’s Free Basics – where is it?
#Internet users as % of popula'on Interna'onal Telecommunica'ons
Union (2012).
53 countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America.
14 new countries added since May 2016.
8
Image from: hTps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19202338
Facebook’s Free Basics – where is it?
#Internet users as % of popula'on Interna'onal Telecommunica'ons
Union (2012).
53 countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America.
14 new countries added since May 2016.
Free Basics is targeted to countries with low Internet penetra'on. 9
& our three research ques'ons
10
& our three research ques'ons
I. What is on the menu?
• # of free services • category of free services • comparison with Alexa top lists
11
& our three research ques'ons
I. What is on the menu?
II. How well cooked is it? • func'onal restric'ons • comparison with paid version
• # of free services • category of free services • comparison with Alexa top lists
12
& our three research ques'ons
I. What is on the menu?
II. How well cooked is it?
III. Is the service fast?
• func'onal restric'ons • comparison with paid version
• network QoS • comparison with paid version
• # of free services • category of free services • comparison with Alexa top lists
13
Measurement methodology
14
Measurement methodology
USER MOBILE
15
Architecture, according to Facebook
Measurement methodology
USER MOBILE
16
Architecture, according to Facebook
1
2
3
Measurement methodology
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
17
Architecture, according to Facebook
Measurement methodology
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
18
Architecture, according to Facebook
Measurement methodology
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES
19
Architecture, according to Facebook
Challenging to measure
20
Challenging to measure
21
Challenging to measure
22
Measurement needs to be in specific countries, with par'cular cellular connec'ons.
Measurement methodology Testbed in • LUMS, Pakistan • UCT, South Africa
LAPTOP WITH REMOTE LOGIN
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES
23
Architecture, according to Facebook
Challenging to measure
Measurement methodology
• browse Free Basics service list • download both paid and zero-‐rated pages some services
SCRIPTS
LAPTOP WITH REMOTE LOGIN
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES
24
Architecture, according to Facebook
Challenging to measure
Testbed in • LUMS, Pakistan • UCT, South Africa
I. What is on the menu?
25
I. What is on the menu?
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
.
26
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
27
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
28
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
29
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
30
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
CD
F
Ranking of Free Basics services within Alexa top 2000 websites for the world
Fa
ceb
oo
kW
ikip
ed
iaB
ing
Blo
gsp
ot
Ask
BB
CE
SP
NW
ikih
ow
Acc
uw
ea
the
rT
he
sau
rus
Me
sse
ng
er
Dic
tion
ary
Olx
Go
al
Wa
ttp
ad
Gu
mtr
ee
Na
ira
lan
d
Au
tora
de
rH
am
ariw
eb
Pakistan South Africa Both
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
31
Are these services popular?
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
CD
F
Ranking of Free Basics services within Alexa top 2000 websites for the world
Fa
ceb
oo
kW
ikip
ed
iaB
ing
Blo
gsp
ot
Ask
BB
CE
SP
NW
ikih
ow
Acc
uw
ea
the
rT
he
sau
rus
Me
sse
ng
er
Dic
tion
ary
Olx
Go
al
Wa
ttp
ad
Gu
mtr
ee
Na
ira
lan
d
Au
tora
de
rH
am
ariw
eb
Pakistan South Africa Both
20% services like Facebook, BBC, Bing, Wikipedia, ESPN: highly popular in Alexa.
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
32
Are these services popular?
I. What is on the menu?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pro
mot
ions
Sea
rch
Wom
en
Rel
igio
n
Ret
ail
Act
ivis
m
Spa
m
Tec
hnic
al
Jobs
Ent
erta
inm
ent
Net
wor
king
Hea
lth
New
s
Edu
catio
nal
Per
cent
age
of
Fre
e B
asic
s se
rvic
es PakistanSouth Africa
Pakistan – 74 services South Africa – 101 services
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
CD
F
Ranking of Free Basics services within Alexa top 2000 websites for the world
Fa
ceb
oo
kW
ikip
ed
iaB
ing
Blo
gsp
ot
Ask
BB
CE
SP
NW
ikih
ow
Acc
uw
ea
the
rT
he
sau
rus
Me
sse
ng
er
Dic
tion
ary
Olx
Go
al
Wa
ttp
ad
Gu
mtr
ee
Na
ira
lan
d
Au
tora
de
rH
am
ariw
eb
Pakistan South Africa Both
20% services like Facebook, BBC, Bing, Wikipedia, ESPN: highly popular in Alexa.
.
manual categoriza'on from service name
& descrip'on
33
Are these services popular?
#services low, few of them popular, but useful and locally relevant content in what is available.
II. How func'onal are the services?
34
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
35
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
36
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
37
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
38
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CD
F
Percentage of external links (non-free links)
AccuWeatherWikipediaMalaria No MoreBBC NewsWikihowGeo.tv
TOEFL tipsESPNKPK Exchange Services Pvt LtdPakistan Learning CenterPharmaceutical GuidelinesAnatomyAtlas.org
VirtualpediatricHospital.orgBingBanglarFrameAZCorp Comics
SumirBD.mobi
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
39
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CD
F
Percentage of external links (non-free links)
AccuWeatherWikipediaMalaria No MoreBBC NewsWikihowGeo.tv
TOEFL tipsESPNKPK Exchange Services Pvt LtdPakistan Learning CenterPharmaceutical GuidelinesAnatomyAtlas.org
VirtualpediatricHospital.orgBingBanglarFrameAZCorp Comics
SumirBD.mobi
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
40
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CD
F
Percentage of external links (non-free links)
AccuWeatherWikipediaMalaria No MoreBBC NewsWikihowGeo.tv
TOEFL tipsESPNKPK Exchange Services Pvt LtdPakistan Learning CenterPharmaceutical GuidelinesAnatomyAtlas.org
VirtualpediatricHospital.orgBingBanglarFrameAZCorp Comics
SumirBD.mobi
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
self-‐contained services
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
41
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CD
F
Percentage of external links (non-free links)
AccuWeatherWikipediaMalaria No MoreBBC NewsWikihowGeo.tv
TOEFL tipsESPNKPK Exchange Services Pvt LtdPakistan Learning CenterPharmaceutical GuidelinesAnatomyAtlas.org
VirtualpediatricHospital.orgBingBanglarFrameAZCorp Comics
SumirBD.mobi
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
interrupted experience due to walled garden
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
42
self-‐contained services
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
II. How func'onal are the services?
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
CD
F
Percentage of external links (non-free links)
AccuWeatherWikipediaMalaria No MoreBBC NewsWikihowGeo.tv
TOEFL tipsESPNKPK Exchange Services Pvt LtdPakistan Learning CenterPharmaceutical GuidelinesAnatomyAtlas.org
VirtualpediatricHospital.orgBingBanglarFrameAZCorp Comics
SumirBD.mobi
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
CD
F
Ratio of page sizes between normal and Free Basics versions of the same service
page size difference between paid and free
interrupted experience due to walled garden
no adver'sements in free
free has restric'ons on JS, large images, videos
43
self-‐contained services
~2k webpages from BBC, Cricinfo, Mustakbil
free content same as paid, but with less features, walled garden interrupts browsing experience.
II. How func'onal are the services?
III. What is the network QoS?
44
45
III. What is the network QoS?
46
speeds look capped for free
III. What is the network QoS?
47
speeds look capped for free
paid speeds are 4 x free speeds
in median
III. What is the network QoS?
48
speeds look capped for free
paid speeds are 4 x free speeds
in median
same cellular connec'on, same place, same 'me – page fetch slower for free
III. What is the network QoS?
same cellular connec'on, same place, same 'me – page fetch slower for free 49
similar in SA, though the gap is lower
III. What is the network QoS?
same cellular connec'on, same place, same 'me – page fetch slower for free 50
similar in SA, though the gap is lower
network QoS worse for free.
III. What is the network QoS?
Summary & ongoing work
51
Summary & ongoing work • interes'ng and poten'ally high impact Internet program • ~ 100 free services in different categories • somewhat restricted func'onality • worse network QoS compared to paid counterparts
52
Summary & ongoing work
scalable measurement
• interes'ng and poten'ally high impact Internet program • ~ 100 free services in different categories • somewhat restricted func'onality • worse network QoS compared to paid counterparts
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES 53
Summary & ongoing work
scalable measurement
web-‐service deployment
• interes'ng and poten'ally high impact Internet program • ~ 100 free services in different categories • somewhat restricted func'onality • worse network QoS compared to paid counterparts
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES 54
Summary & ongoing work
scalable measurement
web-‐service deployment
• interes'ng and poten'ally high impact Internet program • ~ 100 free services in different categories • somewhat restricted func'onality • worse network QoS compared to paid counterparts
USER MOBILE
CELLULAR PROVIDER
FACEBOOK PROXY
BBC
BING
WIKIPED
IA
WEBSERVICES 55
Open ques'ons: How are services growing over 'me? What services can be supported within the technical specifica'ons? Who is to blame for throTling?
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