Providing underdeveloped regions with satellite broadband

Access to digital information is a basic human right and a necessity for economic viability. Unfortunately, Africa is disadvantaged compared to other continents because of its lack of a reliable broadband infrastructure. The rural poor have been left out of many stages in the development process due to their lack of information and communications.

90% of rural Africa lives without electricity and majority of the population have to walk many miles to overcrowded schools without desks to learn. Few communities have libraries or resource centres and are thus socially and economically deprived of the much-needed resources of information. Another alarming statistic: 98% of the African population has no access to Internet services, which is now an important utility for reliable source for education, agriculture and health awareness. The Internet provides the largest and most comprehensive library in the world accessible at the touch of a fingertip or click of a mouse. For this reason, the need for internet-based information in Africa cannot be overestimated. 

There are numerous challenges to provide affordable Internet connectivity but SES ASTRA and Intersat Africa, our African  distribution partner for ASTRA2Connect, have found an easy way to overcome the digital divide. The Rural Internet Kiosk, an independent, self-contained and solar-powered Internet station, uses our successful satellite broadband technology ASTRA2Connect to connect several PCs to the Internet. The Rural Internet Kiosk can be placed in any location, providing the population with fast and reliable Internet connections for research and education purposes.

Farmers can now easily access information about crop growing and climate conditions, students are able to carry out effective research for their studies, families can harness information on health treatment and businesses are able to communicate faster and cheaper. After using satellite broadband in her village near Bungoma in Kenya, one rural woman exclaimed, "It is like bringing us out of darkness into the light!"

According to Abdul Bakhrani, CEO of Intersat Africa “ASTRA2Connect and the Rural Internet Kiosk simplify everything. What the people here used to do in two days, they can now do in two hours. For many, their lives have changed tremendously. We are planning to install a over 5,000 Internet kiosks throughout the continent – with the ultimate goal to provide broadband everywhere in Africa!”