• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 5, 2015

As part of a broader effort to reach people of all nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds, Facebook is rolling out “Lite” -- a less data-demanding version of its current Android mobile app.

The new app has also been designed to work well across all network conditions, according to Vijay Shankar, product manager for Facebook Lite.

“In many areas, networks can be slow and not able to support all the functionality found in Facebook for Android,” Shankar notes in a new blog post. “Facebook Lite was built for these situations, giving people a reliable Facebook experience when bandwidth is at a minimum.”

Lite features Facebook’s core services, such as News Feed, status updates, photos, and notifications. Because it’s less than 1MB, Facebook also promises that Lite is fast to install and quick to load.

Beginning this week, Facebook plans to introduce Lite to countries across Asia, while over the coming weeks it should be available in parts of Latin America, Africa and Europe.

The launch comes as Facebook faces a growing chorus of critics over its Internet.org initiative, which allows subscribers of partner mobile networks to use a limited number of online services without paying for the cost of the data.

A total of 67 digital rights groups recently signed a letter to Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, stating their concerns about the initiative, including their contention that it threatens freedom of expression, privacy and Net neutrality principles.

Launched in 2013, Internet.org has been positioned by Facebook as a humanitarian effort to close the digital divide between those of greater and lesser means around the globe. Along with Facebook’s flagship platform, the service gives users access to news, job search services, health and local government information, among other offerings.

International expansion is clearly part of Facebook’s long term business strategy. For example, the company recently made strides in targeting mobile consumers in developing nations through a new, experimental ad strategy.

With an eye on emerging markets, Facebook already lets advertisers target mobile users -- and tailor their ads -- based on the speed of a user’s network connection. The ability to target by bandwidth connection is supposed to ensure a smooth user experience on any given device and network speed.

Worldwide, more than 1 billion Facebook users will access the platform each month from their mobile phones, this year, according to eMarketer. By 2019, nearly 90% of all Facebook users will regularly access the platform via mobile, the research firm predicts.

By 2016, India will surpass the US with the largest population of mobile Facebook users -- or about 155.4 million -- according eMarketer. Indonesia is the third-largest market for mobile Facebook users worldwide, and is expected to reach 72.3 million, next year.