Mark Zuckerberg has revealed he will bring Facebook's free internet project to Europe, saying that the service will be made available to anyone "who needs to be connected" to the web.
In a wide-ranging Q&A session on his social network, Mr Zuckerberg admitted his initiative to connect the two-thirds of the world without internet access, which has provided free web access across India, Zambia and Colombia, will be rolled out further.
Responding to a question that Internet.org only provides basic internet access, Mr Zuckerberg said that "having some connectivity and ability to share is better than none".
During the hour-long chat on Tuesday night, the billionaire revealed he works "50 to 60 hours a week" in Facebook's San Francisco office and transferring money via the network's Messenger program will be "rolled out more widely soon" as he is "very excited" about the project.
Mr Zuckerberg also fielded a question from Sir Richard Branson, who was thanked for "stopping by".
Sir Richard asked: "I share your view that it is crucial to connect the two thirds of the world that don't currently have access to the internet. What do you think will be the biggest benefits of this?"
Mr Zuckerberg replied that two-thirds of the world's entrepreneurs might not have internet access because they live in impoverished countries. With the roll-out ofInternet.org, their knowledge could be shared with other businesspeople in more prosperous parts of the world.
"When we talk about connecting the world, most people talk about the clear benefits to all the people who will get internet access and don't have it today," the 30-year-old said. "Those benefits are many: access to education, health information, jobs and so on. Many people estimate that for every 1bn people we connect, we'll raise more than 100m out of poverty.
"But one thing that we often overlook in this discussion is how everyone who is already connected will benefit from having everyone online.
"Think about how many brilliant entrepreneurs there are out there who have great ideas and the will to change the world, but just lack basic tools to do so today. If you go by the population, almost two-thirds of these entrepreneurs don't have internet access today. Once they get connected, we may have three times as many good ideas and amazing new services built that will benefit everyone around the world."
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