It looks like you can add Samsung to the ever-growing list of companies that want to create their own network of satellites that would bring affordable Internet access to billions of people. Internet data usage is growing at a rapid pace, especially on mobile devices, which is going to put massive strain on existing infrastructure in the coming years. Rather than going through the lengthy and costly process of upgrading all of that infrastructure, however, Samsung is proposing that we create a network of a few thousand micro-satellites that would not only be able to meet data demands, but also bring Internet access to Earth’s more remote regions.
Samsung is proposing launching thousands of tiny satellites that could provide superfast internet to five billion people worldwide. In a research paper, the Korean technology giant suggests that 4,600 micro-satellites could stream one zettabyte of data per month – enough capacity to provide 200GB per month to five billion internet users. The Samsung research follows Facebook’s unveiling of a drone with the wingspan of a Boeing 737 to broadcast internet to remote regions of the world. Samsung president of R&D America Farooq Khan, the paper’s author, argues that, based on current mobile usage, demand for mobile data will hit one zettabyte per month by 2028. “As more people connect to the internet, increasingly chat to friends and family, watch videos on the move, and listen to streamed music on their mobile devices, mobile data traffic continues to grow at unprecedented rates,” he said, adding satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles will be needed to “connect the remaining two-thirds of humankind that currently do not have access to the internet.”
