OneWeb Wants To Rebuild the Internet in Space, Connecting Billions Not on the Web (cityam.com) 39
Later today, the first six of OneWeb satellites are expected to be launched.[Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source] from a remote launch site in French Guiana, a key step toward building out a constellation that could eventually reach nearly 2,000. From a report: If OneWeb's founder Greg Wyler plans are successful, what he and his fellow executives at OneWeb envision is nothing short of revolutionary: becoming one of the world's largest providers of Internet service by building the architecture in space, allowing the billions without access to WiFi to finally use the Web. Wyler founded the British-based company in 2012.
"The ultimate goal is to connect every school in the world, and bridge the digital divide," Wyler said in an interview after his pep talk. "We're bringing connectivity and enabling it for people around the world, and in rural populations." If successful, remote areas all over the world, from Alaska to Africa, that are out of reach of fiber optic cables could suddenly join the world of Google and YouTube, a feat Wyler and others believe could be transformative. But building the backbone of the Internet in orbit is no easy task. Others have tried to put up constellations of communications satellites, only to fail spectacularly. The enormous cost is only outmatched by the risks of putting up hundreds of spacecraft in orbit.
"The ultimate goal is to connect every school in the world, and bridge the digital divide," Wyler said in an interview after his pep talk. "We're bringing connectivity and enabling it for people around the world, and in rural populations." If successful, remote areas all over the world, from Alaska to Africa, that are out of reach of fiber optic cables could suddenly join the world of Google and YouTube, a feat Wyler and others believe could be transformative. But building the backbone of the Internet in orbit is no easy task. Others have tried to put up constellations of communications satellites, only to fail spectacularly. The enormous cost is only outmatched by the risks of putting up hundreds of spacecraft in orbit.
I would rather connect to a new Web (Score:2)
A new Web would be a better idea. One that the government has not broken. It would be only a matter of time before they got their greedy little hands on a new Web too, but at least for a while, the internet would be the internet again and not just a government run collection racket for music and movie industry.
Re:Internet over satellite is painful (Score:5, Informative)
GEO != LEO.
Failure predicted (Score:1)
First of all, SpaceX is about to do the exact same thing, with many more satellites at a fraction of the cost. To be anything more than a footnote, a project like this has to be first out of the gate and so huge the competition doesn't have a chance. There just isn't enough room in space endeavours for small players to carve out niches.
Second, the goal is schools. Every 'big project' that involves schools involves layers and layers of red tape and idiocy. Sure, there's money to be had, but it's squander
Re:Failure predicted (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not going to write them off so quickly. But they certainly are behind. Starlink launched its first test satellites a year ago. And they have the massive advantage of owning their own launch service, which also happens to be by far the cheapest in the world.
But you never know. I absolutely wish OneWeb the best. LEO constellation-based broadband is going to be a game changer for much of the world's population.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Failure predicted (Score:2)
Calling a system that's never been tested in space "fully finished" is just silly.
Re: (Score:2)
Public discourse shouldn't be limited to people with fiber delivery speeds. The Internet has become by default and design, an open communications vehicle. The real problem are monopolistic telcos and PTTs that have no desire to steal from shareholder profits, the funds needed to reach remote and rural locations, even urban ones where infrastructure is weak. Not everyone can eat cake like first-world countries. They deserve the access, and you might be surprised at the denominator of quality discourse availa
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you might be surprised at the denominator of quality discourse available from these regions
Yes I expect I will be surprised. I will not have realised that there were so many more wealthy widows of African princes.
I wonder what the Chinese think about this? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have to wonder what the Chinese Government thinks about projects like this, as it seems like a pretty easy way to bypass their countries firewall restrictions.
How do they stop something like this? Ban the ownership of OneWeb receivers? How would they even enforce that? Would they take even more drastic efforts if the service became popular, like run a signal jammer on that frequency?
I doubt that it would get to the point where they start shooting down "rogue" satellites over their airspace, but I guess that's what Trump wants Space Force for :)
Re: I wonder what the Chinese think about this? (Score:2, Interesting)
China quite successfully regulates/restricts sale and distribution of non-licensed radio equipment. I.e., I live in a major Chinese city and so far havenâ(TM)t noticed private satellite dishes on homes or apartments as you would elsewhere. The Chinese state is quite effective at surpressing what it wants surpressed.
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All radio transceivers are easily detectable. Also, since these satellite systems are in low earth orbit, their coverage can be made highly selective. Any company which wants to continue doing business in China would have to comply with Chinese regulation, even from space.
Cost of provision (Score:2)
Sometimes, the problem isn't just lack availability of the internet, it's also the cost.
He'll need to make sure that his internet is cheap enough that people in those rural populations can afford to use it.
Bandwidth (Score:4, Insightful)
The radio spectrum is going to be a problem — the bandwidth just isn't there for a billion people to use the internet by satellite at the same time. As it is, phone companies are buying up every scrap they can get, and those are just line-of-site towers (so you can re-use the same frequency every 200 km). To put all that into a fleet of globally-visible satellites? I think the business vision statement has out-paced the engineering plan on this one.
Who's going to pay for it? (Score:2)
So is everybody going to pay the same amount for the service or is this going to be some scam where first-world countries subsidize third-world...again?
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So is everybody going to pay the same amount for the service or is this going to be some scam where first-world countries subsidize third-world...again?
First-world nations steal wealth from third-world nations on the regular. Throwing them back some bread crumbs will hardly break the bank.
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Not quite.
Ofzen enough it's local governments that steal from the people. The trade with first world countries is the first and foremost thing that can lift them out of poverty... But when the government is corrupt...
As long as the populace lets that happen, there's little we can do about it. People cannot be freed. They need to free themselves. Gifts are worthless to the receiver most of the time...
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The US gov to spread freedoms and democracy.
NGO's to spread freedoms and democracy.
US think tanks to spread freedoms and democracy.
Security services to spread news about freedoms and fun. Spying for another gov is fun and very rewarding.
Faith groups to spread their faith.
People all over Communist China getting real time religious meetings and teaching online direct from free Taiwan?
The history of Communist China presented on the internet for free by Taiwan?