Even if Facebook recently seemed to deemphasize satellite Internet in favor of unmanned aerial vehicles, it now has inked a deal with Eutelsat to directly provide Internet access to parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Eutelsat said it had signed a "multi-year" pact with Facebook to provide Internet access using “the entire broadband payload on the future AMOS-6 satellite," with the service expected to go live in the second half of next year.
It isn’t immediately clear what the business model will be, or what roles Facebook might play. But it seems likely Facebook will primarily act as a backhaul supplier, working with local partners for access.
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