Description:
Almost half the world remains offline. Those who do have internet access all too often are forced to choose between expensive data plans offering low-bandwidth mobile connectivity. With marketing plans that trumpet a new solution to bridge these digital divides, satellite internet providers are gaining private equity funding, media attention, and even some government licenses for their speculative, disruptive business plans. I propose a session studying the potential impacts of satellite internet provision in the coming decade, on everything from human rights and digital inclusion to economies, competition, and vertical integration. A host of businesses are developing a new form of satellite communications, largely using relatively lightweight, low earth orbit (LEO) constellations. The industry standard is high orbit, geostationary satellites that beam to and from earth, with high latency. The new LEO constellations, by linking hundreds or thousands of satellites, intend to reduce latency by reducing the distance to earth as well as beaming from one satellite to another. This constant movement of the LEO satellites – a change from the current geostationary model – means they will temporarily pass over countries with less lucrative markets, and worse telecommunications infrastructure. They will move on constant orbits across the sky, enabling providers to reach geographically isolated and underserved areas with consistency. Will this result in better, faster internet service for the billions who remain unconnected? Ambitious firms like SpaceX, Astranis, OneWeb, Viasat, and HughesNet certainly say so. But are they prepared to work with existing providers, platforms, and regulators - not to mention civil societies - in a productive and rights-respecting manner? This session will gather together experts on a diverse array of digital inclusion, telecommunications, and human rights topics to sketch out the bounds of human rights due diligence guidance for the emerging satellite internet sector. We will explore the policies and regulations that could help to prevent and mitigate unintended, adverse impacts of the new technologies and businesses, from spectrum and bidding processes to affordability, privacy, and freedom of expression guarantees. These will be compiled and shared with legal and policy researchers to be polished and then shared for comment with private sector actors and policymakers in the intercessional period before their launch at IGF 2021.
