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Food, clothing, shelter – and now, internet. The list of basic needs has been given an extra requirement, but many still have no access to it. Social media may have us under the illusion that the whole world has access to fast internet, but the reality is quite different. A stunning 2.6 billion people are offline, about a third of the world’s population. There is a terrible need for an alternative to rewrite the rules of who is connected and how.
Summary
- Traditional Telecom leaves billions offline, especially in the countryside and low incomes.
- Low Earth Orbit Satellites cover the launch costs with 95% and deliver fast internet with low latency where cables cannot reach.
- The adoption of satellite broadband is high – with 52.5% year after year compared to only 7.4% for fiber.
- But high costs and centralized business control still block real digital inclusion.
- Depin could turn the model and give communities ownership, autonomy and income from their own networks.
Despite the fact that telecommunications companies encourage apparently affordable packages with unlimited calls and data, the costs are still priceless for many in countries with a low income. Rural areas are mainly confronted with infrastructure restrictions, where many telco’s choose to prevent them from being implemented in these areas due to high costs, geographical barriers and a low efficiency on investments.
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A new job for connectivity
With billions of offline, the world needs an alternative solution to blossom the UN vision on offering universal internet access. A method that attracts attention in recent years is the use of a constellation of satellites with low Earth Orbit (Leo). These Leo satellites turn the earth at a lower height than geosynchronous satellites, running around 160 km and 2,000 km, reducing latency and the coverage is improved in areas where traditional infrastructure is missing.
Not long ago, launching a satellite felt as if something could only dream of governments or multinationals. Today that has changed. Reports have emphasized that nearly 7500 active satellites are turning around the earth, with an average of 50 being launched every week.
Thanks to cheaper launch costs and more accessible technology, satellites are no longer rare. The costs for sending payloads to Leo have fallen drastically, from around $ 65,000 per kilogram to just $ 1,500, which has been a decrease of 95% in recent decades. Moreover, the arrival of reusable rockets could further reduce costs.
From 2024, an estimated 4 to 5 million people worldwide had already registered for the internet on satellite. Satellite broadband connections grew year after year by 52.5%, while fiber only saw a bump of 7.4 percent. This increasing demand amounts to two things: speed and accessibility. Typical download speeds of satellite internet vary between 50 and 150 Mbps, with peaks that can surpass 200 Mbps. Latency is on average about 25 milliseconds for return time, which means less delay and a smoother experience for users.
Combine that with fast download speeds and the ability to reach places, traditional networks are not possible, and it is easy to see why Leo Broadband is seen as a real solution for the digital gap.
Solving for mass -adoption
Although promising on paper, there are still two major challenges in the way of Leo -Satellites that close the digital gap. The first are costs. These services are often highly priced than what low incomes or rural communities can afford, so that access is limited to richer users. In the US alone, 56% of households with a low income report that a monthly broadband costs of $ 75, the national average for a basic width service, is too expensive. This makes it difficult for these users to opt for Leo -wide band services above traditional options. This inequality is felt even heavier in the developing countries.
The second problem is control. Most Leo networks are owned by and are managed by private companies or individuals, which means that a single entity has the authority to switch off or off services. If that authority decides to cut access to a certain region, users have no story. What many communities still fight for is not only access, but also ownership and autonomy.
This is where decentralized physical infrastructure networks can make a real difference. Depin is a model where communities jointly build infrastructure and use their own infrastructure and use blockchain technology to coordinate everything. Instead of one company that owns thousands of satellites, individuals carry resources for – financing, equipment or labor – and blockchain automatically contributes and distributes ownerships.
By enabling communities to build, possess and exploit critical infrastructure, from wireless networks to satellite systems, Depin offers more than just an alternative to traditional telecom. It presents a path to close the digital gap in ways that have not consistently done centralized systems.
Build communities, no monopolies
Imagine a rural community in a mountainous area where the traditional telecom infrastructure has not yet arrived. Laying fiber -optic cables would be expensive and logistics impossible. But with a decentralized satellite network, local cooperatives could use small ground stations that are connected to open-source, low earth-job satellites. These would be the property of and are maintained by the community itself, so that the service is tailored to local needs.
By moving a single company to a wider ecosystem from builders, users and local operators, Depin opens the door for affordable internet access for the billions still offline. What is even more important, this decentralized approach gives users something that traditional systems cannot: ownership and economic participation. Instead of being passive consumers, members of the Community can achieve returns on their connectivity investments, similar to how Zonne-GRID-Zie projects and wind farms generate passive income by sharing energy production with the wider schedule.
The technology to achieve this transformation already exists and the timing cannot be more critical. Internet access is no longer a luxury; It is a fundamental need for education, health care, trade and social connection. While the current race to dominate the air, the risk of creating new digital monopolies that praises the most in need of the communities, decentralized satellite networks offer a different path ahead. By combining the reach of Leo -Satellites with the principles of Depin’s community property, we have the potential not only to limit the digital gap, but to eliminate it.
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Tae oh
Tae oh Is the founder of Spacecoin, where he leads the mission to deliver permissionless internet connectivity to disadvantaged communities. Spacecoin is the world’s first decentralized physical infrastructure network driven by satellite constellations with low earth (Leo), built to serve as the open protocol for global, trustless internet access. Tae brings a unique background that combines deep technical expertise with a long -term dedication to solve systemic problems around financial and digital exclusion. As the founder and CEO of Gluwa, the parent company of Spacecoin, Tae spent more than ten years based solutions based on Bouwchain on expanding access to financial services. He also founded creditcoin, a low-1 blockchain that has facilitated millions of microloans on the chains on emerging markets.