Google's For the Birds

September 10, 2008

Yesterday, I was busy banging out a story about Google. No, not about Chrome. No, not about Android, or Google Apps. Instead, it was about satellites. Well, and in a roundabout way, about all those things I didn't write about too. Let me explain.

Yesterday, it was announced that Google, along with some other big investors, was ponying up $60 million (chump change for Google, I know) to invest in a small start-up called O3b Networks. O-3-b, as in the "other three billion" people that need fast, reliable internet service. O3b wants to put 16 satellites, "birds" if you want to sound know-it-all cool, up in low orbit. The idea is that these sats would bring Internet access to farthest flung, most remote places in the developing world. And not just access. High speed access.

I spoke with David Hartshorn, General Secretary of a non-profit association called The Global VSAT Forum -- essentially folks who work in the satellite biz. He told me that five years ago, this would have been a non-starter. Satellites were just too pricey, and the technology just wouldn't allow for broadband speed Internet access. But in recent years, he noted, the cell phone industry has used satellites extensively for what's called backhaul, which is essentially getting signal back from the back of beyond to national and international switches.

Fine, but broadband speed data access? Greg Wyler, founder of O3b, says these sats will fly lower, which will reduce the latency, the lag time between when you click, and when you get the webpage. Now, to be clear, O3b is not selling service directly. Instead, it's going to sell wholesale to local WiMax, 3G, and eventually 4G providers. So, not just for data, but for some of that cell phone backhaul.

Glenn Strachan, an independent IT consultant with extensive experience in rolling out wireless broadband in the developing world, sees some real sticking points. He notes that while some countries like Kenya and Rwanda have liberalized their ISP and cell phone provider markets, the same does not hold true for many African countries. "In Senegal," he told me, "the controlling monopoly is Sonatel. And they're not about to disperse, at low cost, this new Internet access. There's no regulatory environement in Senegal that would allow alternative ISPs to gain access."

I was also fortunate enough to get seasoned tech blogger Om Malik on the line. He brought it back to Google, and Google's interest in this, far beyond the "We Are the World" kind of stuff. Think about it, he told me. Google's developing its own cell phone handset. It's developing all kinds of mobile applications, including its own browser. If these satellites provided, first and foremost, better cell phone service into remote corners, wouldn't it make sense that Google could sell the handsets, loaded with Google applications? Indeed.

Voice, he told me, is the still the killer app in the developing world. "This is all about connecting cell phones in rural areas. My mother in India, all she wants to do is talk for cheap. She doesn't want to check her email or surf the web on her mobile phone."

But, he noted, someday she and millions like her just might. And that makes Google's move a real nod to the potential future of communication in the developing world.

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