Zuckerberg Moves To Mend Fences With Telecom Industry

By Dow Jones Business News, March 02, 2015, 02:11:00 PM EDT

By Ryan Knutson and Sam Schechner

Mark Zuckerberg is trying to mend fences with the telecom industry.

Facing criticism from carriers that say Facebook Inc. is hurting their business models, Mr. Zuckerberg struck a conciliatory tone Monday, saying the only way to expand Internet access around the world is if carriers' revenue grows too.

"It's really important not to lose site of the fact that the real companies that are driving this are the operators," the Facebook CEO said at the telecom industry's main annual conference in Barcelona.

The comments appeared to address concerns that Mr. Zuckerberg's crusade to extend the Internet to billions more people is at odds with Facebook services that undermine operators' revenue from phone calls and texts.

"It's expensive work," Mr. Zuckerberg said Monday of efforts to build cellphone networks. "The only way we can accelerate that is if we can grow the operator's business faster."

Mr. Zuckerberg was joined by executives from three operators-- Telenor Group, Millicom International Cellular SA and Airtel--who have been giving subscribers free access to Internet.org, an app developed by Facebook that includes access to local content like weather and health information, in addition to a slimmed down version of Facebook.

Christian De Faria, the CEO of Airtel Africa, said the company's relationship with Facebook has improved over the past year. The Internet.org app has helped acquire new customers.

Last year, it was "like the beauty and the beast," he said, hinting that Facebook was playing the role of the beast. Now, he said, "the beast is becoming more human."

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Zuckerberg Moves To Mend Fences With Telecom Industry