New collaboration through the Microsoft
Airband Initiative will increase internet availability for
5 million people across Africa and
an additional 5 million people around the world by the end of
2025
REDMOND,
Wash., Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On
Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Viasat (NASDAQ:
VSAT) announced a new partnership to help deliver internet access
to 10 million people around the globe, including 5 million across
Africa. Viasat, a global
communications company, is the first satellite partner to work with
Microsoft's Airband Initiative, and together they will deepen
Airband's work in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Nigeria,
Guatemala, Mexico, and the
United States, as well as prioritize expanding the program
to Egypt, Senegal and Angola to deliver much-needed internet
connection, often for the first time.
This first of its kind global partnership for Airband is an
important step in reaching the Initiative's expanded goal of
delivering internet access to a quarter of a billion people across
the world, including 100 million people on the continent of
Africa, by the end of
2025.
According to the International Telecommunication Union at
the UN, roughly one third of the world's population — or 2.7
billion people — have still never used the internet. Satellite
allows internet access to reach remote areas that previously have
had few, if any, options for conventional connectivity. Working
together, the companies will combine expertise and assets to help
enable telehealth, distance learning and education, precision
agriculture, clean power, and other services to reach new areas
through the transformational provision of power and connectivity.
The companies will collaborate to provide and pilot technologies
including, but not limited to, satellites (both geostationary orbit
and low earth orbit) and fixed wireless.
"We believe access to the internet is a fundamental right and
that digital skills create and enable economic prosperity for
people, businesses and governments. Through our Airband Initiative
we will extend high-speed internet access to 100 million people on
the continent of Africa and to a
quarter of a billion people living in unserved and underserved
areas across the world by 2025," said Teresa Hutson, Microsoft's vice president of
Technology and Corporate Responsibility. "Working with Viasat, we
will use satellite to reach remote areas that previously have had
few, if any, options for conventional connectivity. Together, we
will be able to rapidly scale and expand Airband's reach, exploring
a wider pipeline of projects and new countries where we haven't yet
worked."
Nearly one third of the world's population is lacking online
access to education, better medical care, business opportunities,
connection with family and more. And most of this population lives
in just 20 countries across Africa
and the Global South. Universal, affordable internet access is part
of the United Nations' Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), and by focusing a large portion of this new
partnership on Africa, Microsoft
and Viasat are working to deliver connectivity and digital literacy
for better education, healthcare and economic opportunity in
critical markets.
"We're proud to partner with Microsoft as it represents another
important step in bringing affordable internet service across
Africa, Latin America and the U.S., as both companies
continue to break down barriers to bridge the digital divide and
make significant progress toward digital equity and inclusion,"
said Evan Dixon, President, Global
Fixed Broadband of Viasat. "Providing internet access to the world
is a challenging and bold goal, and doing so in a sustainable and
responsible manner will unlock enduring opportunities for those who
need it most."
Through Airband, Microsoft and its partners have already
delivered high-speed internet access to more than 51 million people
globally, including over 4 million in unserved U.S. rural
communities and an additional 47 million in 16 unserved and
underserved countries outside the U.S. Launched in 2017,
Microsoft's Airband Initiative works through partnerships with
local and regional internet and energy access providers, telecom
equipment makers and nonprofits, as well as governmental and
nongovernmental organizations, to advance access to affordable
internet and relevant digital skills around the world. Microsoft
believes access to the internet is a fundamental right for
everyone.
Viasat is a global communications company and an innovator in
satellite communications technologies and services, focused on
making connectivity accessible, available and secure for all.
Today, Viasat is connecting unserved and underserved communities
around the world, many for the first time ever.
This partnership builds upon the existing relationship between
Viasat and Microsoft Azure Space to deliver advances in satellite
connectivity and furthers Microsoft's mission to connect anyone,
anywhere on the planet. To learn more about the partnership and
keep up to date with our projects and initiatives, visit
http://www.microsoft.com/airband.
Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone
and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 35
years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses,
governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the
Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to
power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact
people's lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at
sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go
to Viasat's Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social
media
at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
Viasat, the Viasat logo and the Viasat signal are registered
trademarks of Viasat Inc.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.