
VimpelCom has signed a partnership agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation, operator of web-based encyclopedia project Wikipedia. VimpelCom customers will now have free Wikipedia access. Via Wikipedia Zero, VimpelCom's mobile customers will have free access to the mobile version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, along with a text-only fast version of the site. Locally-relevant articles in local language versions of Wikipedia will be available along with the English version.
Wikipedia Zero will be rolled out in VimpelCom operations worldwide starting this year, with focus on emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. While Wikipedia Zero will be the first initiative of the partnership to launch, both partners plan to jointly develop additional Wikimedia services to target emerging markets in the future.