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Facebook Launching Space Satellite To Provide Free Internet To Africa
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Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced today to be providing free Internet access to major parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The company is partnering with France’s Eutelsat Communications to launch a geostationary satellite called AMOS-6 by early 2016 and to operate for sixteen years.
Zuckerberg added the satellite will provide Internet to large parts of Western, Eastern and Southern Africa and people living in the remote regions will be benefitting mostly as they lack traditional connectivity infrastructure.
The move is a part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform and this is the first project of the initiative to provide Internet from space. Until now it focused mainly on laser communication system and drones.
Zuckerberg added the satellite will be able to connect millions of people after it begins orbiting and the company will work with local partners too to help uses get online by using their coverage.
Facebook recently opened its first African office in Johannesburg. Its platform has about 20 million users from Kanya, Nigeria and other major African markets.
Meanwhile, recent data from United Nations Broadband Commission is disappointing. It reveals the growth in new users’ access the Internet has slowed down and still more than 50 percent of the world is without Internet.
Source: http://www.smarttechtoday.com/facebook-launching-space-satellite-to-provide-free-internet-to-africa/6239/
