Viasat and Microsoft use satellites to bring 10,000,000 people online

Diverse organizations and companies work together to grow (and) Sometimes restore) electricity to Hundreds of millions of people who do not have itTechnology companies are working to ensure that people have access to the internet as soon a they have the right devices. Microsoft and Viasat join forces to provide internet access to 10 millions people in Africa, North and Central America. This is part Of Microsoft’s Airband initiativeThis used the old TV’s spectrum Another techniqueTo connect millions of people – although this will not be the first time that a satellite internet company has been involved.

According to Viasat, 5 million people will be covered by the Viasat partnership in Egypt, Senegal and Angola, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are also 5 million people in Guatemala and Mexico. Wednesday press release from Microsoft. Satellite and fixed wireless technology can be used to “reach remote regions that previously had few, and if not none, options to traditional connectivity,” according To Theresa Hutson who is vice president of technology for the company.

Of course satellite internet in general It comes with its own challengesIt is not always reliable. Fixed wireless is also subject to the same limitations. However, accessing the Internet at all would be a major upgrade for many of Viasat’s plans to expand connections by Microsoft in 2025.

Microsoft’s Airband project goals are only part of today’s announcement. According to the company’s flyer, it plans to provide internet access to approximately 250 million people by the year 2025. It also mentions that 100m of those people will be African. Although that sounds ambitious, the company claims that it has a proven track-record in Africa. announcedIt claimed that it was trying connect 40 million people by July 2022. It claimed that Airband had connected more than 51,000,000 people to the internet, which is in line with its 2019 target.

Not all large tech efforts to expand Internet access are successful. Both have been successful over the past two years. The GoogleThen there’s the metaProjects that were to use aircraft to communicate with underprivileged areas were canceled. SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet certainly does have it, Improve Internet access in many areasAt least in the United States It wasn’t particularly helpfulHelping people who can’t afford it.