Google satellite service sets 2013 take-off

O3b Networks, the Google-backed satellite venture seeking to provide Internet access to people in developing countries, is planning to launch services in 2013 after securing $1.2 billion of funding.

O3b has finalized $770 million of debt financing and $410m of equity investments so that it can launch eight satellites in the first half of 2013. The satellites are due to provide “backhaul” connections between mobile operators’ base stations in emerging markets and the worldwide web. The satellites are supposed to be a cost-effective means of linking base stations to the web, given that fixed-line telecoms infrastructure does not exist in many developing countries. O3b stands for the “other three billion” people in the world who do not have regular access to broadband Internet.