Facebook's quest for universal Internet access: next stop, Sub-Saharan Africa
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been vying for more Facebook users in even the most remote corners of the Earth through the company's Internet.org initiative, which aims to make 鈥渢he Internet available to .鈥� 聽
Today it is one step closer, announcing that it has partnered with France-based communications satellite company Eutelsat Communications to use satellites to connect people in remote regions of 14 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa who are out of range of existing broadband networks. 聽
鈥淪atellite networks are well suited to in low to medium density population areas,鈥� said Monday's announcement, 鈥渁nd the high throughput satellite architecture of AMOS-6 is expected to contribute to additional gains in cost efficiency.鈥�
The two companies will use the broadband capacity of the AMOS-6 satellite, which was built by the Israeli government and is . The satellite is expected to be launched into space in 2016 by the Falcon 9 rocket developed by Elon Musk鈥檚 aerospace company SpaceX.
Facebook committed two years ago to bring the Internet to the three-fifths of the world without it. According to today鈥檚 announcement, the social network has helped one billion people in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America get online.
Mr. Zuckerberg unveiled in July a giant drone, which will one day, along with its fleet, be able 鈥�,鈥� as Zuckerberg explained of the company鈥檚 mission in a Facebook post.
And though a United Nations commission recently pointed to "stubbornly persistent" gap between the Internet-rich and poor, Facebook thinks it can close it. The social media giant reports that there are accessing Facebook across Africa, upwards of 80 percent of them doing it through their mobile phones.
Not only does Facebook plan to take advantage of the mobile revolution in the developing world to democratize information, it also aims to bring more consumers into the Internet fold for companies to advertise to.
On the Facebook for Business site, where the company notes the benefits to businesses of connecting more people in Africa and other 鈥渉igh-growth regions鈥� to Facebook through their mobile phones: 鈥淔or brands, the ability to interact with people on their terms, on mobile, to bring value to both people and advertisers.鈥�
Other tech companies are also working to get the developing world online. Just last week, 海角大神 reported that Google will begin rolling out free Wi-Fi service to 400 railway stations across India.
