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Facebook Will Use Satellite to Deliver Internet to Sub-Saharan Africa

Under a new partnership with Eutelsat, Internet.org initiative will beam down connectivity in late 2016.

by Amar Toor
Eutelsat

Facebook today announced a partnership with French satellite operator Eutelsat to provide broadband internet to sub-Saharan Africa. Under a multiyear agreement with satellite communications firm Spacecom, the two companies will use the AMOS-6 satellite to beam Internet connections across “large parts” of sub-Saharan Africa. The satellite is expected to come online during the second half of 2016.

The announcement marks the latest development in Facebook’s Internet.org initiative, which aims to bring free Web services to underserved countries. The organization has begun testing solar-powered drones as a way of delivering internet connections to developing countries, and recently opened up its platform to more mobile operators.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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