Satellite launches: Driven by geography, bandwidth and quality

It’s estimated by the United Nations that, of the 7.6 billion people in the world, only 3.58 billion have internet access. That’s a little less than half. And it will probably come as no surprise to learn that, while Europe is 80% connected, less than 22% of Africa is similarly fortunate. Asia is no better served.

Seeing an opportunity, Facebook launched the Aquila project, a solar-powered drone with the wingspan of a Boeing 737, and designed to stay 60,000 feet in the air for three months at a time. Aquila could, it thought, relatively easily and inexpensively, bring broadband to the unserved areas of the world – starting with Africa. In June this year, however, Facebook abandoned the plan.

Availability of connectivity is only one of the barriers to more widescale internet access – increasingly, the way in which we are consuming content. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example it is said that round 60% of the region’s population do not have electricity. Cost is also an obstacle, as is literacy – and the fact that more than three quarters of online content is available in just 10 languages, effectively disenfranchising more than half the world’s population. It is, as the World Economic Forum said, a big, complex and multi-dimensional problem.

Connecting potential new consumers is, however, one of…