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O3b to launch first 4 satellites, start providing internet connection in remote areas
It's been a few years since we've heard about O3b's mission to provide affordable internet access where it's not currently available, and for a while we thought we'd never see it happen. Thankfully, the company's plans didn't fall by the wayside: O3b is finally slated to launch its first four satellites on June 24, with the next four shooting into orbit sometime in September. The company aims to send a total of 16 medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellites to space that small ISPs in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Africa can tap into. Once they're operational, O3b claims the previously unconnected can experience max download speeds of up to 1.2Gbps, giving Google Fiber a run for its money. The satellites will begin their journey from French Guiana, but you don't need to fly there to be part of the event -- just kick back and monitor it live online via Ariane Space. [Thanks, Vicki]
O3b satellites to enable connectivity for the world's "other 3 billion"
If you thought Verizon was taking its sweet time rolling out FiOS to your neighborhood, imagine how long it would take to connect the entire continent of Africa. Verizon wouldn't bother trying, but satellite company O3b, in partnership with Google, is doing just that. The pair plan to bathe that continent (and others) with soothing Internet waves via 16 medium-earth orbit (MEO) units. Latency is said to be only 120 milliseconds, with maximum download speeds at 1.25Gbps. That's seriously fast, about the same as Japan's Kizuna (set to cover disconnected Asian regions), but before you cancel your 1.5Mbps WildBlue account and go on a bandwidth safari know that these new orbital hotspots are destined to act as backbones for use by smaller ISPs. They'll in turn provide wireless access direct to customers over 3G or WiMax, throttling things appropriately. [Via ZDNet Government]
