Facebook claims speed boost with new mobile site

Facebook is rolling out a new mobile site which it claims is much faster than its current m.facebook.com mobile application but still includes all the main features.

The company said that mobile connections are often slow and usually involve costly data charges from a mobile provider, and that the new 0.facebook.com service addresses these two issues.

The mobile site is available through 50 operators in 45 countries, and involves no data charges. The UK is not among them, but Facebook said that a service on the 3 network would launch soon.

"0.facebook.com includes all the key features of our standard m.facebook.com mobile site," said Sid Murlidhar, a programme manager at Facebook, in a blog post.

"Users can update their status, view their news feed, like or comment on posts, send and reply to messages, or write on their friends' Wall just as they do on Facebook.com."

Photos are not viewable on 0.facebook.com, but are "one click away so they don't slow down the experience", Murlidhar said. Looking at photos will incur data charges.

Using 0.facebook.com without viewing photos or following links outside Facebook, is free because the firm has worked with global mobile operators on its development, according to the blog post.