• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, July 6, 2016

As more people start to gain access to the Internet, especially in developing nations, their connections may not always be the most secure. That's why Facebook will be testing offline video downloads in India. The new feature will allow users to download video to Facebook when their connection is good, so they can view that content when their connection is spotty.

Users can view original videos posted on other Facebook Pages or profiles, but not advertisements yet. Downloaded videos will be contained within the app, so users won’t be able to pirate them. Publishers can control whether their videos are downloaded as well.

Facebook has made no bones about its push toward video, and in India, a push toward getting the population connected to the Internet (and using Facebook). With the acquisition of Oculus, it is also angling to become a destination for VR content.

The company’s efforts in Internet distribution in developing countries have quadrupled the social network’s average revenue per user for the rest of the world since 2012.

The social network’s main competitor, Google, has made similar advances, with YouTube offering video downloads for a number of years already.

As demand for video content rises across all borders, content providers need to allow users in any location access to their platforms.