Given the company’s plans to acquire a telecommunications
satellite to increase its coverage throughout the African continent, does
Facebook plans to become more than just a mere social media network?
By: Ringo Bones
Facebook wants to become much more than a social media
network – founder Mark Zuckerberg announced this week announced this week that
the company is also building a satellite to improve internet access for parts
of sub-Saharan Africa. The move is part of Facebook’s initiative with
Internet.org to bring free web services to people living in remote regions. A
new satellite called Amos-6 will make the web accessible from big chunks of
sub-Saharan Africa orbiting over the continent and serving what Zuckerberg
characterized as “large parts of west, east and southern Africa.
“Over the last year, Facebook has been exploring ways to use
aircraft and satellites to beam internet access down into communities from the
sky” Zuckerberg wrote. “To connect people living in remote regions, traditional
connectivity infrastructure is often difficult and inefficient, so we need to
invent new technologies.” Even though he had visited India before, Mark
Zuckerberg’s recent visit to India got better press attention this time around
because he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed on how universal
internet access could serve as a tool to eliminate extreme poverty. Could a
dedicated Facebook telecommunications satellite make such promise a reality?
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