Thanks To Facebook And Its Satellites, Free Internet Will Be Available In Africa In 2016

Two years ago, Facebook launched Internet.org in an attempt to get the entire world connected to the Internet.

Now the company has teamed up with Eutelsat Communications to further the initiative by leveraging satellite technologies and get more Africans online. The two companies are now engaged in a multi-year agreement with Spacecom to use the entire broadband payload on the future AMOS-6 satellite and build a dedicated system that will include satellite capacity, gateways and terminals in order to accelerate data connectivity for users deprived of Internet benefits, in this case in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“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,” said Chris Daniels, VP of Internet.org.  “We are looking forward to partnering with Eutelsat on this project and investigating new ways to use satellites to connect people in the most remote areas of the world more efficiently.”

Eutelsat and Facebook will each deploy Internet services designed to relieve the demand for connectivity in Africa.

This partnership will enable Eutelsat to step up its broadband activity in Sub-Saharan Africa that was initiated using Ku-band satellites to serve professional users. Eutelsat is working on a new company based in London that will steer its African broadband vision and business.

The Ka-band payload aboard the AMOS-6 geostationary satellite is configured with high gain spot beams covering large parts of West, East and Southern Africa and is set to begin operating in 2016.

For more information visit Eutelsat.