Chinese Firm Plans to Provide Free Wi-Fi Worldwide by 2026

A Chinese Internet technology company is planning to launch a group of 272 satellites by 2026 with the aim to provide free Wi-Fi service across the world, throwing a challenge to rival global tech giants like Google and SpaceX.

The Internet Technology firm Link Sure Network is founded in the year 2013 in Shanghai, China which projects itself as a global innovative mobile internet company, with specialization in free internet access, content and location-based services as declared on its official website.

Link Sure Network has unveiled its first satellite in the constellation plan recently. According to a statement by the firm, it has declared “The satellite will be launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China's Gansu province next year, and by 2020 there will be 10 satellites in space”, as reported on the state-run China Daily.

Link Sure Network plans to launch and set total 272 satellites by 2026 that will strengthen its plan of providing Internet worldwide. With this plan in action, people could be able to use their mobile phones to search for Internet services provided by the constellation and browse the Internet anywhere in the world, even in regions where the present telecom networks do not cover.

Wang Jingying, CEO of LinkSure Network, said the company is going to invest 3 billion Yuan (USD 431.4 million) into the plan. She also expressed hope that through different scenarios, modes and applications, the company could earn in the future.

According to a data from the United Nations, till 2017, there are 3.9 billion people, who are not connected to the internet around the world. And because of the diversity and complexity of geomorphology, some infrastructure facilities of telecom networks cannot be installed at some of the places and in this case, the satellite constellations might be a wonderful alternative.

At present technology giants including Google, One Web, SpaceX and Telesat also have already started working on the plans to use satellites to provide free Internet access.

China is also building the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), which is going to be the rival of United States, Global Positioning System (GPS). Once successful, it will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the United States GPS system, the European Union’s Galileo and Russia’s GLONASS.

India too is working on building its own navigational system called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) with an operational name as NAVIC.