Facebook To Beam Internet To Sub-Saharan Africa From Space
MENLO PARK (CBS SF) -- Facebook is teaming up with a French satellite operator to deliver Internet coverage to 14 sub-Saharan countries in Africa in 2016.
The multi-year partnership with Eutelsat Communications SA is part of the Facebook Internet.org initiative to bring Internet access to the developing world. According to the website, "two-thirds of the world is not connected."
"To connect people living in remote regions, traditional connectivity infrastructure is often difficult and inefficient, so we need to invent new technologies," Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.
The companies will use the Amos-6 satellite that is currently being built by Spacecom.
South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya are some of the countries that will receive Internet coverage.