While there is a rapid growth in internet connections, globally about 3 billion people still do not have an internet connection. And this gap needs to be closed.
At the present fiber optic internet is the fastest, most reliable, and most secure way to communicate digitally. Unfortunately, it is also the least accessible communication system since it requires the installation of expensive high tech optical cables, and connection devices. Therefore, it is not easily available especially in rural areas and in less developed countries.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX company developed a much cheaper technology with its Starlink company, which provides low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet with a focus on global connectivity using radio signals. Starlink and its competitors Viasat, HughesNet, and Amazon's Kuiper Systems aim to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband services by using radio signals for the people who have no access to internet at affordable costs.
More recently Google has introduced a company, Taara, which uses beams of light to transmit data between terminals. Taara will be the alternative to both fiber optic and Starlink technologies. The light beams are capable of reaching distances of over 20km through rough territories and delivering 20 plus giga bits per second of information. Taara is already operational in more than a dozen countries including India, Kenya, Fiji, and in some rural areas of the US. Mahesh Krishnaswamy, General Manager of the Taara Project describes Taara as “'it's like fiber, but without having to run any fiber—it’s just over the air.”
To me, it is clear that budding entrepreneurs need to follow up these new technologies with enthusiasm, and if/when possible, establish high technology team members of such initiatives.
