Google has thrown its weight behind ambitious plans to bring internet access to 3bn people in Africa and other emerging markets by launching at least 16 satellites to bring its services to the unconnected half of the globe.
The search engine has joined forces with John Malone, the cable television magnate, and HSBC to set up O3b Networks, named after the “other 3bn” people for whom fast fibre internet access networks are not likely to be commercially viable.
They will today announce an order for 16 low-earth orbit satellites from Thales, the French aerospace group, as the first stage in a $750m project to connect mobile masts in a swath of countries within five degrees of the equator to fast broadband networks.
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