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| VIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Alphabet |
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Tizeti Is Bringing Wireless Internet To Urban Africa |
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About the organization Alphabet:
Type: Business
Sub-Types: Website, Search Engine, Internet, Application Software, Computer, Computer Software, Telecommunication, Telecommunication Software, Biotechnology, Car, Self-Driving Car, Social Networking Agent, Downloading Agent, File Hosting Agent, File Sharing Agent |
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Notable Organizations: Alphabet, Techcrunch
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| Internet accessibility in emerging markets is a huge challenge.
Facebook and Alphabet have spent millions on internet-enabled drones, balloons, and other services to solve the last mile problem of connectivity in rural markets in developing nations, but that solves a problem that affects a smaller population than addressing connectivity in cities.
Meanwhile, a new company called Tizeti, which is graduating from the latest batch of startups to come from Y Combinator, is proposing a simple solution to the connectivity problem… Build more towers, more cheaply, and offer internet services at a cost that makes sense for consumers in the urban environments where most people actually live.
“There’s a ton of capacity going to 16 submarine cables [coming into Africa],” says Tizeti founder Kendall Ananyi. “The problem is getting the internet to the customers. You have balloons and drones and that will work in the rural areas but it’s not effective, in urban environments. We solve the internet problem in a dense area.”
It’s not a radical concept, and it’s one that’s managed to net the company 3,000 subscribers already and nearly $1.2 million in annual recorded revenue, according to Ananyi.
“There are 1.2 billion people in Africa, but only 26% of them are on online and most get internet over mobile phones,” says Ananyi. Perhaps only 6% of that population has an internet subscription, he said. |
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