Africa News
World Mobile brings Starlink to Africa
Blockchain-based network accelerates rollout in Africa after successful Low Earth Orbit satellite pilots.
The blockchain-based network World Mobile is expanding its network across the African continent, following a series of successful pilot tests using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites in the United States and United Kingdom. Positive results have been found in ongoing tests of Starlink, the LEO satellite network founded by Elon Musk.
World Mobile, which was founded in 2018, aims to provide affordable connectivity to rural and remote areas worldwide.
The African continent alone currently sees less than a quarter the population with access to reliable internet. Using innovative satellite and relay technology with stratospheric balloons, its first efforts are looking to provide connectivity in hard-to-reach areas in Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria.
World Mobile’s pilot tested the use of Starlink’s satellite network as a backhaul option for providing internet to its AirNodes, the network’s internet access points. The connection delivered impressive broadband speeds, latency, and stable connectivity, with download speeds of up to 400Mbps.
Satellite internet constellations are among the many backhaul technologies available to World Mobile’s network, which adapts its connectivity infrastructure to the needs of each region, allowing it to deliver efficient and affordable connectivity where other mobile operators cannot reach.
The pilot tests conducted by World Mobile and its partners demonstrated that remote connectivity with LEO satellites, which serves as a constellation network connecting its AirNodes, can provide robust Wi-Fi services.
In Zanzibar, an archipelago of 1.9-million people, where the average income is $1,000 per year, World Mobile is targeting areas where there is minimal or no connectivity. It is deploying its hybrid mesh network to deliver affordable mobile connectivity in the region through a network of AirNodes and aerostats with a coverage radius of up to 70km.
In addition to rolling out in Tanzania and Kenya, World Mobile is in talks to expand its network to other African countries, such as Mozambique and Nigeria. The company’s offering enables entrepreneurs to own or operate a portion of the network and benefit from its adoption.
It expects further tests with other LEO satellite systems to roll out more efficiently across sub-Saharan Africa.
