Popular social network Facebook has teamed up with select telecom providers - Airtel and Reliance Communications - in India for offering the advantage of free messaging to the mobile users in the country.

Facebook's tie-up with Airtel and Reliance is part of the social network's recent move to partner with 18 telecom operators in 14 countries - India included - for offering free or heavily discounted access to its Facebook Messenger app on different platforms.

With Airtel and Reliance users set to reap the advantages of their carrier's tie-up with Facebook in the coming months, the free or discounted access to Facebook Messenger app will available to users of Android and iOS devices, as well as other devices which have been optimised for access of the Facebook chat feature.

In a blog pots pertaining to the free messaging offer to mobile users, Facebook said that its messaging and chat features are accessible from over 6,000 mobile handsets "via Facebook Messenger, Facebook for iOS and Android, Facebook for Every Phone, m. facebook. com and across other devices with Facebook integration."

About the offer, Facebook said the blog post that messaging on Facebook allows people to connect with friends and contacts on the go, irrespective of the device they may be using; and added: "Three out of every four people on Facebook send a message on the platform each month, making messaging one of the most popular activities on Facebook."