Free (zero-rated) content When a specific application or content is zero-rated, the user may consume an unlimited amount of that specific content without incurring data charges. Free content, including zero-rated content, was available in Myanmar at the time of fieldwork. MPT, for example, offered MPT Free Basics, a variation of Facebook’s internet.org endeavor. Users had free access to selected content, including a text -only version of Facebook. Other free (though not zero-rated) content included an offer by Telenor, where one could access an unrestricted version of Facebook up to a daily limit of 150MB. The zero-rating debate is a controversial one. One school of thought believes that zero-rated content acts as an on-ramp to the Internet, while others argue that it violates the principles of net neutrality by promoting some content over others, and limits user experiences by keeping them in a “walled garden”. LIRNEasia interviewed 63 individuals in urban and rural Yangon in July 2016 to understand their user ZR Facebook Wiki-zero + Other 6% 3% Aware of them 71% Use experiences and relate it to concerns on the general zero rating debate. Though none of our respondents had used zero-rated content to get on the Internet for the first time, we can’t say that this is representative of the population since non-random sampling method was used to recruit respondents. Aware 10% Use The results of our survey suggested that awareness on the availability of this zero-rated content was low. While more were aware of zero-rated Facebook, there was also greater demand for Facebook from those who were aware of the free content. (Figure 68) ICTs in Myanmar: 2016 73

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