Internet.org, the brainchild of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has the ambitious goal of “connecting the next 5 billion” Internet users by focusing on the emerging economies — the lower tiers of mobile users whose primary means of getting online is via mobile devices.

With a goal of having a presence in 100 countries within 2015, Internet.org sets foot in Southeast Asia through PLDT (NYSE:PHI), which operates the Philippines’ biggest mobile and fixed line network by subscriber base. According to estimates, only 38% of the country’s population had Internet access as of mid 2014. Meanwhile, mobile penetration rate has surpassed 100%, although only a minority are on smartphones.

Facebook’s effort to connect the otherwise underserved sectors of society is done in partnership with public and private organizations in its target countries. Internet.org vice president Chris Evans said in a keynote at the recently-concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that the effort will essentially provide basic Internet services like access to educational and health information. But it also aims to be a feeder to other mobile services, as well, envisioning to “see more people coming online, buying data and voice and SMS bundles.”

Internet.org launched initially in countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ghana and India. The Philippines launch marks the first Southeast Asian country that carries free basic Internet access through the initiative.

Through Internet.org, users can access a curated set of websites, currently numbering 24, which include sites like Wikipedia for news, Inquirer for news, Accuweather for meteorology and Jobstreet for job hunting (the list of services differs by market). As expected, the service will also provide free access to social networking staples Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

Access will be available to users within PLDT’s mobile brands, which includes SMART, Sun Cellular and Talk n’ Text. The biggest mobile network by subscriber base, the group counts about 71.2 million prepaid subscribers, which comprise about 90% of its cellular business.

Prior to the local Internet.org launch, PLDT already initiated its “Internet for All” campaign, which provided free access to mobile users, with 50MB daily allocation. While this is decidedly a small amount for most, it was deemed enough for basic access like instant messaging and light social networking.

“Smart’s partnership with Facebook is a big boost to our ‘Internet for All’ campaign, an advocacy we have been strongly pushing for,” says Smart president and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno. “By launching Internet.org app with Facebook in the Philippines, we are making useful information within reach of millions of Filipinos.”

Earler this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared some statistics on Internet.org, saying about 7 million people used the Internet for the first time through the service. In addition, the carriers involved also saw an upsurge in data subscriptions and usage of basic services, an indication that Internet.org does not only serve to enhance access to the underserved, but it also contributes positively to carriers’ business. Other companies, such as Nokia, are also finding ways to enable Internet access with inexpensive Internet-enabled devices for the emerging markets.

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Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has published its third quarter 2014 results, beating analyst expectations for revenue, earnings per share and growth. However, with executives advising during guidance that 2015 will be a year for investment, stock price dropped 10% in after-hours trading in anticipation of said period of big expenditure.

In Q3 2014, Facebook’s revenue of $3.2 billion, well past analysts’ expectation of $3.12 billion. This comes mostly from advertising revenue of $2.96 billion and payments and other fees of $246 million. Ad revenue grew by 64% compared with the same quarter last year, while payments grew 13% compared to the same period. EPS is $0.43, beating the expected $0.40.

During this quarter, 66% of ad earnings are from mobile, compared with 49% in Q3 2013, signifying growth in Facebook’s ability to monetize its mobile assets.

Facebook counts 1.35 billion users to date, up from 1.32 billion in the second quarter and up 14% year-on-year. According to the company, daily active users (DAU) grew 19% year-on-year to 864 million this quarter. Mobile DAU, meanwhile, grew 39% to 703 million.

Moving out of the box

Notable in this quarter is a stark change in advertising figures. Fewer Facebook ad impressions are reported, with impressions falling 56%. However, the company has earned more per ad, mostly due to the improvement in ad quality.

Earlier this year, Facebook expanded its advertising initiatives to applications outside of Facebook’s own assets, which enabled third-party app and software developers to monetize their apps and content through Facebook. This is actually in line with the company’s medium-term strategy of expanding its reach as a platform, rather than simply a walled-off social network.

This quarter, Facebook also shared figures from WhatsApp, the chat application it acquired for $22 billion. The chat network lost $138.5 million during the quarter and earned $10.2 million. However, with 600 million monthly active users, WhatsApp will be part of Facebook’s mid- and long-term strategy of building a persistent platform for user engagement.

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