IMAGINE Africa: Providing internet to the developing world

Access to the Internet advances many facets of life including education, economic development, and health care quality. Africa is the least connected region in the world. As of 2008, only 5 percent of its population has access to the internet. IMAGINE Africa (implementing a global internet network) is a system design study for providing access to these unconnected areas. This system consists of geostationary assets along with easily deployed ground stations to quickly and efficiently provide internet access to the rural population of Africa. In addition to being cost effective, it is also implementable today. This paper provides a description of a roll-out plan for internet access, the system architecture, and the design of an easily deployable ground station.