In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV’s Emily Chang, Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg compared basic internet access to critical services like 911.

To help realize his goal of connecting the world, Zuckerberg founded Internet.org, a charity organization led by Facebook that also includes supporters like Microsoft, Ericsson, and Qualcomm. Internet.org works in developing countries to improve infrastructure and provide low requirement internet tools for mobile devices.

“The model that we consider this to be most similar to is 911 in the U.S,” said Zuckerberg. “So even if you haven’t paid for a phone plan, you can always dial 911, and if there is a crime or a health emergency or a fire, you get basic help.

“We think there should be an equivalent of this for the internet as well — where even if you haven’t paid for a data plan, you can get access to basic health information or education or job tools or basic communication tools, and it will vary, country by country.”

Internet.org operates in several countries across the globe, most recently moving into Colombia and India with its free app that includes simplified versions of tools such as parenting and health apps, Wikipedia, and Facebook.

Basic internet “can be delivered relatively cheaply”

While Internet.org is working toward free internet for all, people will not be using its services to stream Netflix or video chat with friends anytime soon.

“So it comes down to the economics of how this works,” Zuckerberg explained. “It turns out that most of the internet consumed is rich media, especially videos.

“So if you look at things like text, text-message services like search or Wikipedia, or basic financial or health information, [they] can be delivered relatively cheaply and can consume less than 1 percent of the overall infrastructure. So if you are thinking about building something that operators can offer for free, it needs to be pretty cheap for them to do.”

But even with the organization’s focus on things like “basic financial or health information,” the apps delivered to developing countries always include Facebook and Facebook messenger. Zuckerberg argues that communication is one of the fundamental benefits of internet access, but for now, Facebook seems to have a de facto monopoly on social media in some countries thanks to the Internet.org app.

Screen capture via Q&A With Mark/Facebook