In modern American life, Internet access is an inescapable part of the daily routine. Without it, you could do only a fraction of the digital tasks required for your workday, and your entertainment options at home would be limited as well.
In an age where many are cutting digital luxuries like cable TV, Internet has remained the one constant that people can't do without. But globally, and even in certain parts of the U.S., access is still not at all a given.
In fact, a majority of the world's population is still offline. Currently, there's an estimated world population approaching 7.4 billion inhabitants, about 3.2 billion of whom are online.
Unsurprisingly, that number is growing at a steady clip, with a billion or so new people connecting to the Internet about every five years. However, one Internet giant is hoping to drastically increase that number by beaming Internet via satellite to one of the world's most access-dry regions.
On Oct. 5, Facebook announced a partnership with French firm Eutelsat Communications that will use an Israeli satellite to provide Internet to 14 sub-Saharan Africa countries.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg has a mission of connecting everyone in the world on the Internet.
According to a February Facebook report titled, "The State of Global Connectivity," just 16.9 percent of sub-Saharan Africans are online, defined as using the Internet at least once a year. That's the second-smallest region in the data, only ahead of South Asia at 13.7 percent.
The move is part of a continuing effort by Facebook's Internet.org division to break down barriers in the developing world to Internet access and, eventually, help the other 4.2 billion people get online.
Of course, helping get millions online in the developing world will also give Facebook natural advertising inroads for companies in those emerging economies that stand to benefit by expanding their mobile and desktop marketing efforts.
The project is likely to officially begin in the latter half of 2016, and CNET reports Facebook and Eutelsat will also "use affordable customer equipment to provide Internet access to entire communities and well as directly to individual users," in picking up the Internet satellite signal.
The United States is well, well ahead of sub-Saharan Africa with 86.8 percent of the population having access to the Internet. But that still means that approximately 1 of every 7 Americans is without Internet access. That's lower than developed countries like Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Furthermore, the Federal Communications Commission reports that about 1 out of every 6 people is unable to get "advanced broadband" Internet, and that half of all rural Americans cannot access broadband. After the FCC famously acted in February to treat the Internet as something like a public utility, the inaccessibility chasm for so many Americans is all the more striking.
There are many different ways experts propose to solve the rural broadband gap, but the consensus is that it will require a mix of public-sector action and private-sector innovation and investment.
One of those private-sector innovations that could help bring broadband to less populated locales is Google Loon, which will put balloon networks at an altitude twice the height at which commercial aircraft fly. However, it appears the technology is only going to be LTE-capable for now, making it less of a possibility for nonmobile and commerce or work uses.
If you're reading this, chances are that the Internet is one of the biggest necessities in your life. But for about 60 percent of the world and a sizable portion of the U.S., being online is hardly a daily given.
