Facebook Incorporation launched a mobile phone application that gives Colombian users free access to a handful of online services, broadening Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's effort to boost Internet usage in developing markets.

Colombia is the first nation in Latin America to receive the new Internet.org service, in partnership with local mobile phone provider Tigo, but the aim is to push the application across the region.

Zuckerberg made the announcement in Bogota alongside Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who said the partnership would bring Internet access to millions.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT JUAN MANUEL SANTOS:

"The Internet.org plan is a plan that aims to give (Internet) access to millions of people around the world who don't have access, due to the cost, to the marvelous world of the Internet. Give them access. Grow the Internet. And this has some wonderfully positive effects as far as equality and education," said Santos.

Internet.org will offer more than a dozen services via the Android operating system, including online encyclopedia Wikipedia, weather websites, job listings and health information, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging service.

FACEBOOK CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MARK ZUCKERBERG:

"It is basically an announcement that starting today everyone in Colombia who uses Tigo as an operator, in partnership with the government, will have access to free tools for health, education and also communication through Facebook and other things. Free access, like to Wikipedia for information. And this way, everyone in the country will be able to have access to this information," Zuckerberg said.

Access to the application's services is free, but links that lead to information on other websites will require users to pay data charges.

The tools offered by the service provide a foundation Colombians can use to "build their own prosperity" Zuckerberg said during the presentation.

"By giving people these basic tools for free, you're creating an equal playing field in the country. Technology isn't just for the rich who can pay for it, but it starts to be available for everyone. I believe in this very much. I think that in this partnership that we are creating, we have made an agreement and we are telling the world, that we think this is the way the Internet should work and it is something I am very proud of," Zuckerberg added.

Facebook has partnered with more than 150 wireless providers over the past four years to offer free or discounted access to its social network, but the new app is the first time the company has added services beyond its own website.

While 85 percent of the global population lives in areas with mobile phone coverage, only 30 percent have access to the Internet, according to Tigo.

Around 3 billion people will have online access by the end of 2014, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has said.

Facebook hopes the Internet.org project will help more than 4 billion Internet-less people worldwide, many of whom live in Africa and India.

The initiative has the potential to boost the size of Facebook's audience, which totals 1.32 billion monthly users.

Tigo, a unit of Millicom, has about 8 million users in Colombia.