Facebook has just announced a dedicated portal with a view to expand the Internet.org project's reach. The new portal offers a go-to resource for mobile operators aspiring to connect with the social media giant and offer the service.

Quoting a report in the online technology news outlet Tech Crunch, Tech Radar states that the announcement came soon after Facebook celebrated the first anniversary of its Intenet.org service, which allows free mobile access to an assortment of Web services in the up-and-coming markets.

According to the report, recently Facebook wrote in a blog post, "As we approach year two.. [we] are now ready to scale Internet.org free basic services. We've made it easier for any mobile operator to turn on Internet.org in new countries through a partner portal that includes technical tools and best practices, improving the process to offer free basic services to the unconnected."

It is worth mentioning here that initially the Internet.org service was launched in Africa, and since then it has expanded to cover 17 countries, including India, Pakistan and Indonesia, across three continents.

Facebook has claimed that over 50 percent of the nine million users, who have used the service, have signed up for a paid-for data package of some sort within the first month of using the service. The social media giant also stated that this has directly resulted in phone owners adopting new services 50 percent more sooner than they otherwise would.

Meanwhile, Internet.org has been widely criticized for breaching the basic principles of Net neutrality.

Despite the criticisms, Facebook is anticipating that operators will put their concerns down and see the business value, which, it claims, Internet.org can deliver.