Facebook appoints Munish Seth as Country Manager of connectivity solutions

NEW DELHI: Social networking giant Facebook has roped in Munish Seth as the Country Manager-Connectivity Solutions for the Indian region.

Under his role, Seth will be driving Facebook’s connectivity products and services in the country, including the Internet.org initiative, a person familiar with the matter said.

Seth’s appointment as the connectivity solutions India region head is in line with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious strategy to bring internet access to billions across the globe.

In February this year, India became the sixth destination for Facebook’s Internet.org initiative, which the social media giant says helps affordable Internet access. It was launched in partnership with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) for India.

However, the initiative which provides free internet access to a bunch of websites free of cost came under fire after a social media backlash against the zero rating tariff plan proposed by Bharti Airtel, saying both violate the concept of net neutrality.

Facebook said it recently posted a myths and facts page about Internet.org to dispel rumors that it violated net neutrality. It has very recently opened up the platform to all developers in a bid to quell perceptions that the initiative was a walled garden, or closed to some, and hence discriminatory.

Seth was leading French telecom gear maker Alcatel-Lucent’s India operations till a year back.

Prior to that, he served as the chief technology officer of the Asia Pacific region at Alcatel-Lucent for eight months before serving as the CTO for the India region for more than 3 years.

Facebook confirmed Seth's appointment in an emailed statement.