免费wifi覆盖全球 美国公司计划造福全人类

You might think you have to pay through the nose at the moment to access the Internet.

现在想连接上网你可能得花不少钱。

But one ambitious organisation called the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) is planning to turn the age of online computing on its head by giving free web access to every person on Earth.

但一个名叫“媒体发展投资基金”（MDIF）的美国组织非常有野心，他们计划为全球所有的人提供免费网络，让在线计算的时代发生完全变革。

Known as Outernet, MDIF plans to launch hundreds of satellites into orbit by 2017.

MDIF公司这个名叫“外联网” 的项目，计划到2017年向近地轨道发射数百颗卫星。

Using something known as datacasting technology, which involves sending data over wide radio waves, the New York-based company says they'll be able to broadcast the Internet around the world.

“外联网”项目将使用数据广播技术，让这些卫星向地球地面站持续释放无线网络信号。MDIF公司总部在纽约，他们表示将利用这些卫星向世界各地广播网络信号。

The Outernet team claim that only 60% of the world's population currently have access to the wealth of knowledge that can be found on the Internet.

“外联网” 项目团队表示，全球只有60%的人口有机会接触到网络提供的丰富资源和知识。

This is because, despite a wide spread of Wi-FI devices across the globe, many countries are unable or unwilling to provide people with the infrastructure needed to access the web.

这是因为虽然全球范围内Wi-FI 电子设备广泛使用，但很多国家无法或不愿意为人民提供无线网连接的基础设施。

The company's plan is to launch hundreds of low-cost miniature satellites, known as cubesats, into low Earth orbit. Using a technique known as User Datagram Protocol (UDP) multitasking, which is the sharing of data between users on a network, Outernet will beam information to users.

该公司计划向近地轨道发射数百颗低成本的迷你卫星——立方体卫星，“外联网”将使用用户数据报协议多任务技术向用户发送信息光束，实现全球网络下用户数据分享。