Facebook has begun tests on a new service that is designed for mobiles and at countries that have narrowband internet connections.

Facebook Lite, a cut-down version of Facebook, has been rolled out to a select number of beta testers, who have received the following message, according to TechCrunch:

We are building a faster, simpler version of Facebook that we call Facebook Lite. It's not finished yet and we have plenty of kinks to work out, but we would love to get your feedback on what we have built so far.

The site is currently on trial in India and it is thought there are plans to extend this to China and Russia, according to BBC news.

In a statement Facebook said the new service would be a faster, simpler version similar to the Facebook experience you get on a mobile phone.

These modifications will make Facebook's service look a whole lot like Twitter, which it tried to acquire unsuccessfully.

Instead, Facebook acquired the significantly smaller real-time streaming site FriendFeed on Monday. The service offers a real-time search engine that lets users know what is happening currently on any given subject.