We’ve all heard of Elon Musk, the legendary entrepreneur, engineer and inventor. He’s the CEO of SpaceX, the company that’s doing its best to catapult us into space (though they have had a lot of rocket problems). He’s also the CEO of Tesla motors, the automobile company trying to fix our carbon emissions by making battery run cars.
You may not know him, however, as one of the pioneers who are trying to bring fast and reliable internet to all the corners of the globe. Google is leading the charge in this field with their “Project Loon”, a strategy that focuses on having balloons beam internet down to places that don’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to provide local citizens with the sort of internet speeds we’ve long grown accustomed to. Even Richard Branson has partnered with a company to achieve similar ambitions. Facebook was also on the bandwagon though they abandoned plans to build a $500 million satellite that would provide internet services across the world.
Musk, being Musk however, has taken on a slightly more flashy and advanced medium than balloons. He plans to use a Space X Falcon 9 rocket to propel a number of small satellites into a low earth orbit which will then beam signals to places as remote as the borneo jungle or my grandparent’s place in Sri Lanka. The constellation of rockets would pick up a decent chunk of web traffic from urban and suburban regions, meaning our internet won’t go haywire when some people decide to cut internet cables in the mediterranean, all while providing internet to billions of people.
To achieve this goal, Elon Musk filed a request to the FCC to begin testing this dramatic idea. If the FCC approves this, we could see Space X rockets loaded with satellites being launched into space by early next year. And if all goes well, global internet domination, not a term heard before, could be achieved in as few as 5 years.
Here’s where I was a bit skeptical of the whole idea: Space X are skirting the issue of cost and according to Musk, you’ll need 4000 satellites to provide the earth with internet. Looking back, Bill Gates tried a similar initiative in the 90s, but the costs for the program grew exponentially and it was scrapped. Rather than throw millions of dollars into space, he’s thrown millions into charity. While I can understand the desire to provide internet to millions living in poverty, you have to ask yourself, is it the best thing to provide? The same amount of money being spent to bring internet to people without it can eradicate poverty in such areas. Unless Elon Musk is going to announce launching a machine into outer space similar to the one in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”, his idea of beaming internet down to us like a benevolent god seems meaningless.
Let’s face the facts, you can only use the internet if you have a smartphone, laptop or some other form of gadget. Elon Musk and Google’s plans to provide internet to rural areas seems to look over this fact.
Also, internet for all? I remember a similar proposal in “Kingsman: The Secret Service”!
What do you think of Elon Musk’s idea of providing global internet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
