Companies like Google and Facebook are working on using things like drones and weather balloons to offer Internet to remote areas, however, satellite company ViaSat has announced that it is working with Boeing to build three new satellites that will offer high-speed Internet in remotes areas around the globe.
The partnership was announced only a few months before the company was set to launch the ViaSat-2 satellite on an upcoming SpaceX rocket launch.
The new plan, however, will include the launch of ViaSat-3 satellites, which will offer a total network capacity of 1 Tbps, or Terabit, per second, around triple what the ViaSat-2 offers. What this means is that ViaSat will be able to offer 100 Mbps data speeds to remote areas in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
According to ViaSat, work on two of the three satellites has already begun, and they will launch by the end of 2019.
In fact, the company says the satellites won't just be useful for connecting in remote areas, but also on planes, both commercial and otherwise.
Of course, ViaSat isn't the only company working on offering Internet connectivity through satellites. The likes of SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are both working on offering connectivity using a range of satellites, and, as mentioned, the likes of Google and Facebook are working on solar-powered drones and weather balloons.
There are, however, some issues. Satellite Internet can still be disrupted depending on the weather, and the other options are still years away from launching. The end game, however, seems to be the same — at some point in the future, everyone will have access to the Internet.
