Quika Ltd. has launched the world’s first entirely free high-speed satellite internet for developing countries.
According to a Quika press release, the new service is being provided to “address a leading cause of economic and social inequality.” Quika aims to close what it sees as an investment gap in areas with poor or low access to the Internet.
“We believe that left unbalanced, entire communities and regions will be abandoned by technological and economic progress. Quika will help bridge this digital and economic divide,” said Alan Afrasiab, the founder and chairman of Quika, and who is also the CEO of satellite communications company, Talia Limited.
“3.9 billion people (53% of the world’s population) are still offline. The majority of these people, live in rural areas and are often poor. The main reasons for people not using the internet are inequalities in relation to income and education, as well as the lack of infrastructure, relevant online content and services, plus relatively high costs of access and usage.
“While numerous initiatives have been implemented to bring unconnected communities online, a significant amount of people still remain unconnected. With Quika, we hope to accelerate internet adoption around the world and transform societies for the better.”
Quika aims to provide free internet access via Quika Free through its commercial arm, and services are expected to begin by mid-2018 in Africa and the Middle East initially, with other developing countries receiving access to Quika sometime thereafter.
Quika will use GEO and LEO satellite communications “constellations to provide high-speed, low latency Ka-band internet using high-throughput satellites.”
