Deutsche Welle has signed an agreement with the newly-launched Outernet as an additional content distribution channel. The satellite-based Internet provider promises free access to information.
Outernet is a new platform that was designed to bridge the digital divide and penetrate censored markets by beaming the best content from the Internet via a constellation of nanosatellites in orbit down to every citizen on Earth, free of charge.
"Outernet and Deutsche Welle share many of the same values and goals. It is a clear message to all who wish to censor or restrict access to the Internet," says DW Director General Peter Limbourg. Because reception is quite easy to access and because the use of many small satellites will make it quite difficult to obstruct signals through jamming, DW's cooperation with Outernet will be able to "contribute to net neutrality and circumvent censorship," Limbourg explains, adding, "We hope this will enable us to better reach our users especially in crisis regions and in countries where press freedom is restricted."
"For Outernet, it is extremely important for us to be globally minded in our content sources - particularly news - from the outset," says Thane Richard, head of User Engagement at Outernet. "Deutsche Welle represents a very exciting step for Outernet in bridging the global information divide by providing quality news along with other relevant content to our users."
Outernet is making use of a network of small satellites to transmit selected data – audio, video, text and applications - to simple receivers that users can either purchase or build themselves. All software and hardware required to access Outernet is open source. Once the receiver has the signal, it is rebroadcast locally and content can be viewed on any WiFi enabled device.
"No other information channel allows for such a wide variety of content, or broadcasts on a genuinely worldwide scale," Richard comments. Outernet officially launched its service in test phase a few days ago. During this early stage, content will be available in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. DW content will be available throughout the entire test phase.
Visit outernet.isto learn more and to see instructions on how to connect to the signal.
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