Facebook co-founder wrote on his page that “Over the last year [2014] Facebook has been exploring ways to use aircraft and satellites to beam internet access down into communities from the sky,”, theguardian.com cites. Moreover he wrote that To connect people living in remote regions, traditional connectivity infrastructure is often difficult and inefficient, so we need to invent new technologies.”, the source cites.
Zuckerberg did not say who would provide the receivers for the satellite signal, and he only stated that Facebook will work with local partners across these regions to help communities begin accessing internet services provided through satellite”. The initiative is undertaken in partnership with a charity Facebook runs called Internet.org.
As local markets evolve, satellite coverage is often an intermediary measure between not having any internet at all and broadband access. Internet.org asks internet service providers (ISPs) to help provide “free basics” to countries where wired internet penetration is sparse or non-existent, touting the the virtues of developing markets and appealing to the tech world’s charitable instincts.
In many countries on the continent, the ISP market is beginning to boom. Until relatively recently, internet in Kenya was largely provided by satellite through a large dish in the Rift Valley; four large submarine fiber-optic cables radically changed the way the country received the web beginning in 2009 under the acronym The East African Marine System (Teams), and now several multinational internet companies have a strong presence in the country, notably Alcatel-Lucent and Fujitsu.
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