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CONNECTING THE ENTIRE world to the web for free is always going to be an ambitious task, but one New York-based company plans to make it a reality by using miniature satellites.
The Outernet project aims to create a network of miniature satellites in low Earth orbit that will beam WiFi to everyone around the world.
Each satellite receives data from a network of ground stations and will transmit that data in a continuous loop until new content is received.
Describing the project as the “modern version of shortwave radio or BitTorrent from space,” it will offer users a one-way web connection that allows WiFi-enabled devices to access a basic version of the web. The main draw of the project is that it would allow those who wouldn’t usually have a web connection a way to access it
Two-way internet-access would be made available to a small group of users. It will be made available to those who are unable to access traditional communication networks either because of natural disasters or man-made restrictions.
The team behind the project hope to begin developing prototype satellites in June and start testing them at the beginning of 2015. If everything goes to plan, then deployment of Outernet could begin as early as June 2015.
The project is being funded by the Media Development Investment Fund, a New-York based organisation that provides financing and business assistance to independent news outlets in countries that have a history of media oppression. The team behind Outernet are also accepting donations through PayPal and Amazon as well as through Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
Outernet isn’t the first project that wants to connect the world to the web. Internet.org, a project headed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, aims to do something similar through partnership with companies like Nokia and Samsung, while Project Loon is Google plan to connect people to the web via high-altitude balloons.
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I’m guessing their target audience isn’t rural Ireland???
No they would be talking about places like Africa I presume.
Great another reason for people to think I’ll email them back immediately.
End world hunger? No! Wifi for all!
You can download food,
Torrent a bag of spuds
please hurry up. I’m being charged e80 a month by onwave for a 20mb connection and I rarely get above 1.5mb. In fact my upload speed is 4 times faster than my download speed 9 times out of ten.
Someone needs to do an expose on satellite broadband speeds in Ireland. It’s a rip off and needs to be exposed.
One way, so more like aertel then actual internet then.
WAP is back!!
WAP was still two way. This, like aertel, is one way, so you would receive all the possible pages in one small subset of the internet and hopefully whatever page you want to look at is contained in there.
The mother in laws house has very bad mobile and broadband coverage. Nice to go out there and forget about the phone for a while. This might put an end to this.
Or you could just turn it off? DUH!
What’ll happen to all those fiber optic cables being put in all over the country then? Also, hate to be a stickler about this, but what about the EMF/radiation exposure this would cause? The health implications would really need to be thoroughly and independently investigated.
What do you mean John, can you explain to me a wee bit more, gay
Minimum orbit is 300km, max wifi usually 30m (Max theoretical TDMA range is around 15km). I get the feeling this is an investor trick, but they’ll have to come up with new ideas. Also transmitters for 2 way are over a metre in size for rubbish internet – even Niall Quinn couldn’t sell you that.
Well if the scientists are right there’ll be no bees left and say goodbye to fertile men
have your say