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Home » Facebook in Effort to Get Internet to Most of Africa

Facebook in Effort to Get Internet to Most of Africa

Much of Africa’s most densely populate areas should have free access to broadband Internet by late 2016, all provided from a satellite, according to a plan announced by Facebook on Monday. In partnership with French satellite operator Eutelsat, news reports said, the two companies will use the AMOS-6 satellite to beam Internet connections to reach at least 14 countries in sub-Saharan […]

By SAPeople Staff Writer
05-10-15 17:21
in News
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Much of Africa’s most densely populate areas should have free access to broadband Internet by late 2016, all provided from a satellite, according to a plan announced by Facebook on Monday.

In partnership with French satellite operator Eutelsat, news reports said, the two companies will use the AMOS-6 satellite to beam Internet connections to reach at least 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is part of Facebook’s Internet.org initiative to get Internet to underserved parts of the world.

A report released in September by the UN Broadband Commission said that 57 per cent of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer.

Chris Daniels of Internet.org was quoted as saying, “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”.