Through Internet.org, Facebook wants to connect the world by providing internet access to developing countries worldwide. The social media giant has announced a new partnership with French firm Eutelsat, with plans to launch a satellite into space next year in hope of bringing millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa online.
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Eutelsat is already actively providing broadband services for professional use by Ku-band satellite, and will now set up a London-based business headed by Tiscali worldwide Network founder Laurent Grimaldi, to focus on serving premium consumer and professional segments. It will reach 14 countries in West, East and Southern Africa. Facebook says it will work with “local partners” across Africa to help deliver services, using both satellite and terrestrial capacity. “To connect people living in remote regions, traditional connectivity infrastructure is often hard and inefficient, so we need to invent new technologies”, Zuckerberg wrote.
That said, it’s worth noting these tech users, as well as the continent’s emerging markets, typically access the internet through their mobile units.
Facebook’s Chris Daniels, the initiative’s Vice President, said in a statement, “Facebook’s mission is to connect the world and we believe that satellites will play an important role in addressing the significant barriers that exist in connecting the people of Africa.” The app was recently renamed “Free Basics by Facebook” in an attempt to distance it from other Internet.org projects.
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“Over the previous year Facebook has been exploring ways to use aircraft and satellites to beam internet access down into communities from the sky”. Until April 2015, it provided free access via mobile data networks to a limited number of basic websites and services, but after widespread protests in India this was expanded to any sites that met Facebook’s development criteria. Critics have argued the service violates net neutrality and is creating a closed, Facebook-centric version of the internet rather than providing open access for all. Google is working on Project Loon which uses hot air balloons.
