VOA标准英语2013--Satellite Broadband Aims to Revolutionize African Development
时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2013年(七月)
Satellite Broadband Aims to Revolutionize African Development
Lift-off for the O3b - or "Other 3 Billion" - satellite system occurred last week in French Guiana. The system goes "live" later this year when eight satellites will enter a lower orbit to provide a faster connection.
Its backers include Google and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, among others.
Founder 1 Greg Wyler said the "Other 3 Billion" are the people on the planet without access to fast Internet.
ᄀᄚThis will enable everybody, and it will be a cascading 2 effect, but it enables everybody in these societies to become economically relevant to the rest of the world,ᄀᄆ he said.
Fast connection, pervasive 3 coverage 4
The O3b satellites will provide Internet coverage anywhere within 45 degrees of latitude 5 north and south of the equator.
Rival Inmarsat will launch a satellite Internet system called Global Xpress later this year.
Dele Meiji Fatunla, web editor for Britainᄀᆵs Royal African Society, said, ᄀᄚIn the rural areas I think it would have an impact on the way people can get information related to healthcare, information related to education.ᄀᄆ
In the Atlantic off west Africa, cable-laying ships completed the submarine West Africa Cable System last year. Sub-Saharan Africa alone has nine submarine cables, with a total capacity of 22 terabytes.
Fatunla said broadband boosts economic growth.
ᄀᄚI think a lot of small and medium enterprises would benefit from that," he said. "And it might also have a political impact in the sense that the Internet, if itᄀᆵs fairly open, will allow organizations and people to mobilize much more effectively.ᄀᄆ
Other pressing needs
But broadband by itself wonᄀᆵt revolutionize governance, said Charles Kenny of the Center for Global Development in Washington.
ᄀᄚIf government isnᄀᆵt picking up the phone, if you will, if government isnᄀᆵt answering the emails, just having a broadband connection isnᄀᆵt going to help,ᄀᄆ he said.
And when it comes to healthcare, said Kenny, government money would be better spent on basic needs.
ᄀᄚVaccines, bed nets, itᄀᆵs the very basic health interventions 6 that are having a huge impact. Africa doesnᄀᆵt have many doctors; it doesnᄀᆵt matter if theyᄀᆵre all connected to broadband. So I think particularly where it comes to health, broadband may not be the ᄀᆴwiz-bangᄀᆵ solution,ᄀᄆ he said.
But Fatunla said broadbandᄀᆵs potential should not be underestimated.
ᄀᄚYou have to remember that thereᄀᆵs going to be a core of people who are active in societies in Africa, particularly civil society, who will benefit from there being better access to information," he said. "And I think those people will, in turn, be able to pressure government structures a lot more.ᄀᄆ
Analysts 7 warn that even though the satellites and cables are connecting to Africa, the prices charged by Internet service providers on the ground need to be lower before broadbandᄀᆵs full potential is realized.
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- According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
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- Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。
- It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
- The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的,并且难以估算。
- There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
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- The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。
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