Google to set up satellite network

Google Inc, Liberty Global Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc plan to build a satellite network to provide Internet connections in emerging markets.

The system will become operational late in 2010, according to a statement yesterday from O3b Networks Ltd, the Jersey, UK-based venture backed by the three companies. Thales SA's space unit has started construction of 16 satellites for the network, O3b Networks said. The satellite order is the first stage of a $750 million project to provide fast Internet connections to countries within five degrees of the equator, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing Larry Alder, product manager at Google's alternative access group.

"Access to the Internet backbone is still severely limited in emerging markets," O3b Networks founder Greg Wyler said in a statement. "O3b Networks will bring multi-gigabit Internet speeds directly to emerging markets, whether landlocked in Africa or isolated by water in the Pacific."