Firms fund internet initiative

13:14 11th September 2008

A trio of global companies are funding a new system of satellites that could bring the internet to people in Africa, Asia and South America.

The Satellite company 03b has received £35 million in first stage funding from Google, HSBC and Liberty Global to start a network of 16 low Earth orbit satellites.

The network, which is scheduled to go live by 2012, would be able to deliver speeds of up to 10GB per second and would be picked up by 3G Cellular/WiMax towers across the continents.

Greg Wyle, founder of O3b, told vnunet.com that access to the internet is still severely limited in these locations.

He said: "Only when emerging markets achieve affordable and ubiquitous access to the rest of the world will we observe locally generated content, widespread e-learning, telemedicine and many more enablers to social and economic growth."

In August, the online career service Experteer revealed that UK-based IT executives are increasingly looking to move abroad to find employment.

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