Facebook does not give up, working on the internet by satellite

The dream of a fast and stable Internet connection with low latency and without data constraints, represents of course today mainly optical and hybrid networks of fixed operators

See L & # The arrival of 5G networks forces fixed operators to take off.

4G advanced mobile technologies (in the form of LTE-Advanced), and in particular incoming 5G networks, compete to compete, but data limitations issues persist

Internet for the Poor

However, there are no inhabitants of remote areas (not only) in emerging countries. The construction of optical networks is expensive and economically impracticable in sparsely populated areas. To a lesser extent, this also applies to mobile networks operating in higher frequency bands.

These are the billions of people on this planet who do not have access to broadband and often to any internet connection. This modern "human right" could be safer than that of satellite telecommunication drones by satellites broadcast from orbit.

This is also indicated by the recent completion of the Aquila Project by Facebook. Facebook, however, has thought of providing Internet to the world's poor for years, and it's not just drones.

See Facebook stopped the Aquila UAV project.

Already in 2013, Internet.org was created as a partnership between Facebook and six other companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm) to provide affordable access to select Internet services less developed countries [19659011] SOURCE Ars Technica

In 2015, the application providing these services was renamed Free Basics, and in November 2016, it was used by 40 million people. However, as this is not charity, but mainly business, the project has been criticized for not respecting net neutrality.

For these reasons, the Indian Regulatory Authority banned Free Basics service in the country in February 2016.

Facebook enters the universe. Once again

It turns out that finding successful business models for the cheap internet, not to mention the free connection, will not be easy. However, Facebook continues to work on this issue, and satellite coverage remains in the game

WIRED reporters have been researching the details of such a project under the guidance of Facebook. The company has confirmed its support for the Athena project, on behalf of which several lawyers from Facebook or its own companies with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) discussed it.

See The Satellite Internet O3b mPOWER Disappears Digital Traps

Although Facebook's spokesperson declined to tell us all the details we had, but she confirmed that Satellite technology is an important prerequisite for building a new generation of broadband infrastructure.

According to WIRED, Facebook and FCC have been in communication since 2016 and the company would be interested in launching its own Internet satellite Athena early 2019.

Recall that Facebook planned to send the telecommunication satellite to orbit in 2016. The satellite AMOS-6, in cooperation with Eutelsat, provided Internet coverage for sub-Saharan Africa. The project, however, ended in disaster when SpaceX's Falcon-9 spacecraft exploded with a satellite on board

Success to project itself into the future

Facebook's new satellite project is not yet available The approval of Facebook by FCC via PointView Tech LLC will only be the first. If it has to cover a larger area, it can not be placed in a LEO. Ideal would be a static position on a geosynchronous path

This excludes mobile devices, reduces transmission speeds and increases the delay of packet transmission. According to Facebook, however, "a better basic Internet than anything"

See 10 big companies that end up in the hands of Facebook

In a situation where a large fleet of satellites on LEO wants to place SpaceX ( Starlink Network Project), OneWeb, as well as other companies or even countries (China), however, the attempt to mix cards with a satellite will be doomed for failure. Minimal or commercial failure if they try to motivate customers to get free access. (19659003)

This is a question for all companies that want to invest billions of dollars in building global satellite networks of megalomania. Such projects will not benefit from advertising on charity models to provide free access to poor regions of the world

According to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX wants to attract 40 million subscribers to its Starlink network. here 2025. The question is how to motivate customers to switch to satellites where the quality of the connection can affect storms and other weather phenomena from fiber optic and cable operators whose speed can reach 100 Mbit / s.

soon to learn

Source CABLE