In an effort to make knowledge more readily available, telecommunications operator Orange and the Wikipedia Foundation have announced that they are partnering to provide Wikipedia — at no extra cost — to Africa and the Middle East (AMEA).

This collaboration will allow more than 70 million Orange customers in remote and urban areas of AMEA with mobile access to Wikipedia without incurring data usage charges.

Gradually launched throughout 2012 across 20 AMEA countries where Orange operates, the initiative is part of the Wikimedia Foundation's mobile strategy to reach the billions of people worldwide who access the Internet only through mobile devices.

The service will be available to clients with an Orange SIM and mobile Internet enabled phone. Users will be able to access the Wikipedia site either through their browser or an Orange widget. They can access the Wikipedia encyclopedia services for as many times as they like at no extra charge as long as they stay within Wikipedia’s pages.