Group to beam FREE internet access across the globe from space!

[Desertrose]

The charity group A Human Right said it was planning to purchase a satellite that would provide free basic Internet access to developing countries around the world.

The group, which was founded by 25-year-old Kosta Grammatis, is currently raising money to buy the TerreStar-1, the largest commercial communications satellite ever built. TerreStar, the company that owns the satellite, filed for chapter-11 bankruptcy protection in October 2010, opening the possibility that the satellite may be up for sale.

"The idea for global connectivity was born in Berlin, Germany in an innovation 'Do-Tank' called Palomar 5," according to the group. "Thirty people under the age of thirty came together to innovate on what the future might look like, and how to address some of the worlds problems."

More at Rawstory.

A Human Right.org   Buy This Satellite.org

I think this is so cool!!!

[inademv]

1. Great idea

Also a way to fight against having communication networks shut down.

[BoWanZi]

2. Interseting idea but gad, satellite internet sucks worse than almost dialup

I hated satellite internet back when I was forced to use it. The only saving grace is that it does allow fairly quick downloads of larger files but its latency was horrible even compared to dialup. Made browsing the web very uncomfortable.

Really like the philosophy behind the idea though.

[Desertrose]

3. Don't know about that but the idea is pretty impressive.

:)

[RKP5637]

4. I had that setup some years ago. It was generally flaky and you still had to

have a phone line for uploads. Sometimes the downloads were not bad, but nothing like I have now with 10GB downloads and 100GB if I wanted to pay that much. ... but for developing countries and limited cable areas the downloads could offer a lot I think.

[DCKit]

10. Even dial-up is better than nothing.

Though I admit, I'd probably have suicidal thoughts if I went back to it.

But for downloading information, it's great. And look how much information was conveyed with tweets over the past few months.

I like it.

[HopeHoops]

65. With Gopher, Archie, and Veronica, dial-up at 24K was a dream come true.

Of course, back then your searches either came up empty or were exactly what you were looking for. None of this "matches 1-10 of 456,203,436" for what you considered to be a fairly narrow search criteria. Most of it is bullshit, blog entries, and advertisements now.

[GeorgeGist]

12. I have it now ...

and it's far superior to dialup.

[Posteritatis]

13. The worst connectivity you've had would be a godsend in some places. (nt)

[RufusTFirefly]

20. Amen. Well stated! n/t

[truedelphi]

29. That was my thought also..

Plenty of places where you certainly cannot hook up to optic fiber or cable methods.

A great deal of the world's population call little boats their homes.

[54anickel]

58. Especially if it wasn't easily blocked or controlled by shadowy PowersThatBe.

We may even be begging for it one day.
:hide: :patriot:

[bvar22]

15. Would you like it...

...if it was FREE?

I hope the non-rich in the USA (the lower 98%) get to use it.

[Statistical]

52. This is more for emerging nations.

The speed will be very slow, likely slower than dialup. However compared to no access, slow access is superior.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

23. My satellite is much faster than the dial-up I had.

It cost twice as much, but I can be online and still get phone calls. I could never watch a video with dial-up. Though I only have the bottom of the line program and video is not often good, as I have to let it load before trying to watch, at least I can.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

30. I had to use it in Africa,

The offices are on VPN over satellite, people were getting so pissed off with it they were just going to the local computer store and buying a USB cellular data stick and sim card.

[Taverner]

39. WiFi-SCSI will change all of that

And it won't require the satellites to update

[obxhead]

45. Yes it does!

We're in the process of finally getting rid of it. We have had to go to a great up front expense to purchase cellular boosting equipment to make it possible, but so far the results have been good.

Download speed is decent when the only other option is dial up. However there are daily limits that can be passed by just a moderate MS update, much less a R&R of your system. Thinking about streaming a movie from netflix? Ha! You'll be over the data limit half way through a movie even with the biggest packages available.

Satellite internet sucks. We will be very glad to be rid of the huge bill for an inferior product.

[paparush]

48. I doubt they intend it for streaming Netflix.

Rather, in light of recent events in Egypt, they can provide a basic service beyond the reach of any local govt.

[Jackpine Radical]

59. When the choice is between free satellite and nonexistent alternatives,

and you're in the Third World with no money to afford a phone let alone DSL, satellite is not a bad deal. Anyway, lots of Internet traffic is via satellite these days. Just like phone communications. In fact, this message goes to my wireless router, which will relay it via radio to a tower that will send it to a satellite and then to you.

Huzzah, I say! At last the steps are being taken to make all humanity as one.

[axollot]

67. That has been my experience too. Hope it can improve. n/t

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Very cool indeed! Thanks! :) n/t

[Desertrose]

6. This kind of news along with the peaceful protest in Egypt...

really makes me feel there has been a positive shift...and we are witnessing incredible times.

:grouphug:

[OneGrassRoot]

7. I couldn't agree more, Desertrose...

:hug:

:grouphug:

[RKP5637]

9. +1, n/t

[bananas]

11. Yes, it's a nice feeling. nt

[calimary]

32. I hope you're correct!

It's welcome news - free internet is vital to free people.

[loudsue]

57. Me, too, Desertrose!

I feel hope...real hope...for this lovely planet we've had the honor of inhabiting. Time will tell, and time seems to be going pretty fast these days.

BTW, HI :hi: ! It's so good to see you! :hug:

[Desertrose]

63. Hey You!!!

Good to see you too!! How ya doin?

I know...I am feeling hopeful again...like an important corner has finally been turned and there is hope!!



:hi::loveya::hug:

[jwirr]

66. Yes. The minute I read the headlines I thought FREEDOM is here

for all. And then I LOL. What a headache for world rulers! Hurray.

[felix_numinous]

8. K&R This Rocks.

[NYC_SKP]

14. Kicked and donated $50. Few things can be so empowering as free access.

This is what the future should be.

:kick:

[Desertrose]

16. Cool...thanks!!!! I agree...this is the way of future.

I know...free internet...what a concept!!

Now we have to get free energy technology going too!:)

[emsimon33]

17. Kicked and donated

[Desertrose]

21. Thank you!!

:)

[AsahinaKimi]

18. The United States

Military will probably destroy it as a "spy satellite". Or perhaps find a way to scramble the signal. I am sure corporations probably have the plans in place already..They can not allowed FREE anything these days that might go against the grain...Considering how many websites have been already taken over by the Department of Homeland Security.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

19. Yeah...

if you have line of sight to the satellite and the equipment to access the signal...

sP

[daggahead]

22. Awesome! n/t

[Countdown_3_2_1]

24. This would take an entire network of satelites

just one won't mean much.

[midnight]

25. My first response is how amazing.... Then I remember when

I first bought a computer and was chatting with my friends for free when Clinton and Al Gore were in the White House... Then the our air waves were sold.... and now we pay for the use of our air waves... I'm dating myself I realize.... But wasn't it free in the beginning and wasn't it always suppose to be free... Do I remember this correctly?

[RandomThoughts]

26. Yes people are suppose to have free will.

and with that heart to help with what some do with free will.

And with that learning to best reason what is best.

[OnlinePoker]

27. I would put my money into basic clean water and electricity connections before this

Nice idea, but most parts of the third world have limited or zero access to those two more necessary commodities.

[quakerboy]

28. Its very cool

I am curious as to how well the business plan will work out. If there is enough paying business to pay its way while offering free service to others, I question whether there would be some other group that might want it for financial reasons alone.

I wonder what kind of expenses are involved in keeping a project like that going.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

31. oh hell yeah lets turn up the heat more

[DeSwiss]

33. They should never have let this out.....

...BEFORE the purchase. The "for-profit" competition will now want to buy it and at the least will probably drive up the price.

- Nonetheless, I wish them luck.

K&R

[IamK]

34. carrier pigeons would be faster and cheaper...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

49. There's an RFC for that!

http://www.faqs.org/rfc/rfc2549.txt

One of the best ever...

sP

[GoddessOfGuinness]

35. Beautiful!

[pengillian101]

36. WOW! K&R

How great is this idea!

[burrowowl]

37. K&R Great Idea

[wildbilln864]

38. excellent! nt

[tpsbmam]

40. 25-years-old. Love it!! K&R nt

[Motown_Johnny]

41. Are we sure one satellite is enough?

*Disclaimer* I am not an expert on this subject, but as I understand it you need multiple satellites to cover more than half the planet.

Terrastar-1 is in geosynchronous orbit over 111 degrees west longitude. This places it west of Central America and means it will be able to service North and South America but not Africa or Asia (unless I am mistaken).


I applaud the first step and sincerely hope that more satellites are added to the system to eventually cover the entire globe.

[Desertrose]

43. The article mentioned this would be a first step. nt

[madmax]

42. Soon 'they' won't be able to stop

the children of the revolution by shutting down the internet.

[grahamhgreen]

44. Ham radio internet is also free, I think....

[ZombieHorde]

46. Seems like a big deal. nt

[Shining Jack]

47. What a great idea!

And I guess oppressive government couldn't shot it down either.

[Enthusiast]

50. I wouldn't be surprised to

see the corporations use physical force to put an end to this.

[virtus_contagiosa]

51. Im guessing the Corporates are already

looking for a way to stop this. Cant have anyone on the internets for free...thats socialism dont ya know. :sarcasm:

[Statistical]

53. I doubt most people will "choose" this.

This service is intended for people with no other options. i.e portions of the globe too remote or too poor to be of any interest to corporations.

Given that dialup internet access is available almost everywhere in the US for <$10 per month this charity isn't intended to bring access to the US.

[Statistical]

54. Thanks for the info. I donated $100.

Some people seem to be missing the point.

This isn't intended to be a "western" high speed service. It isn't going to compete with Time warner or AT&T. When you take the aggregate bandwidth of the bird and divide it by millions of users it will be SUB DIALUP.

Nobody is going to use this to watch funny cats of youtube, or stream netflix movies. It is more about providing free access to vital information in portions of the globe where currently there is no access.

In essence if you have access to any internet service (even dialup) this isn't for YOU. It is for people who have nothing, and likely won't have anything for decades due to high cost of wiring up rural portions of third world countries.

[Desertrose]

61. Yes! Thank you for the reply & the donation!

Wow!
:hug:

[4_TN_TITANS]

55. Here we have ' Think Tanks', in Germany they have

'Do-Tank's. Sounds about right from what I remember from my time in Germany.

[Javaman]

56. Queue the right wing conspriacy tea party nuts...

"they are going to beam thoughts into our heads!!!"

Well, if they do, that will be the first real thoughts these half wits will have had.

:rofl:

[Lance_Boyle]

60. How is 1 satellite going to serve all 'developing countries?'

Doesn't this type of satellite need to be in geosynchronous orbit to work at all? That limits the coverage area to the area of ground it can see.

[Statistical]

70. I think the goal is eventually to have multiple sats.

Still a single sat can provide coverage to multiple countries, more like a region or continent.

For example this is the footprint for the C-band signal off of Intelsat 905



Here is BADR-4 (posistioned over the middle east)

[JitterbugPerfume]

62. it is so good to see you!

:hi: :hug:

[Desertrose]

71. Hey Jitterbug....

it's been a long time...good to see you too!!!

:hug:

[myrna minx]

64. Wonderful. K&R n/t

[Uncle Joe]

68. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Desertrose.

[totodeinhere]

69. It's a good idea but it might only have limited impact.

That one satellite would not have enough bandwidth to serve more than a very small fraction of the people around the world who need Internet access.