I imagine the investing in internet access for the world is wholly because one way to grow their own user numbers is to get more people connected to the internet - if they can just spend enough money to associate people with that messaging as their advertising budget - then they may start off with a good relationship to those new internet users.
At this point the only way to grow their user numbers significantly is to get more people connected to the internet. The question is whether it's something they seriously think they can do or just an attempt to convince Wall Street they have growth potential.
Facebook does have the Internet.org[0] initiative which focuses on getting internet connections to more people in the world. I can't speak to its effectiveness or how serious they are about it though.
"Facebook [...] a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform."
Can anyone put facts or numbers to those last two statements? Is Facebook putting any concerted effort beyond PR/vanity projects into those goals?