Social network Facebook had said in an ambitious earlier-this-month announcement -- in commemoration of the company's 12th anniversary -- that it will reach 5 billion users by the year 2030. However, Facebook's plans having seemingly hit a major roadblock; in the form of recent issues with the company's Internet. org service in India.

In an apparently indication that India has turned its back on Facebook, the country's telecommunications regulator has shot down the 'Free Basics' Internet service --- a part of Facebook's Internet. org initiative -- which gives mobile-device users free access to some essential information services, including the Facebook social networking site.

The Free Basics service has been disallowed by Indian telecommunications regulator specifically on the grounds that the services offer only a 'limited free' access to its users, rather than enabling them to access the entire Internet. Consumers are required to pay for access to Internet and cell services which are not provided by Facebook and its partners under the Free Basics program.

The decision by India telecommunications regulator to block Free Basics will evidently deliver a blow to Facebook's ambitious growth plans, especially since the company has been witnessing impressive periods of financial and product successes of late.

Moreover, Facebook is also at the receiving end of sharp rebuke in India due to its board member Marc Andreessen's recent remarks in reaction to India's move to block Free Basics. Andreessen said in a tweet: "Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?"