Facebook has joined forces with around 50 international mobile operators to offer a low-spec version of its social networking site which will not incur end-user data charges. Reuters reports today that the new site – known as 0.facebook.com – is a text-only version of Facebook specifically designed for basic mobile devices with limited mobile Internet capabilities. The new site will be available in 40 different countries, including Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey. Among the operators partnering with Facebook in the scheme are Reliance and Videocon in India, T-Mobile in Hungary and Vodafone in Greece. “We are targeting people whose major barrier is they have little experience on the mobile Internet. They want to try it, they want something super simple, super fast. And they are potentially afraid of browsing costs,” said Henri Moissinac, the head of Facebook’s mobile business.

According to Moissinac, there are not financial terms to any of the operator partnerships and Facebook is not reimbursing operators to provide the free service. The new site offers many of the same capabilities as Facebook’s standard website, allowing members to view their newsfeed, comment on posts and send messages, but data charges will apply if users decide to view photos or videos. Roughly one quarter of Facebook’s 400 million users access the site on mobile devices, according to the company. However, most of these users access the service via high-end smartphones such as the iPhone. But Moissinac said the firm was looking to rollout 0.facebook.com to mature markets as well and is eying operator deals in the UK, Finland and Hong Kong among others.