VOA双语新闻：4、卫星公司希望宽带带动非洲起飞（在线收听）

卫星公司希望宽带带动非洲起飞

A new satellite system was launched into orbit last week that aims to bring high-speed Internet to remote communities across the globe. Its backers say it could have a big impact in rural parts of Africa by speeding up economic and social development. Others argue the huge amounts of money, however, should be spent on more basic needs.

一颗新卫星上星期发射后进入轨道。它的目标是让高速互联网覆盖全球边远地区。这个项目的支持者表示，这可能对非洲农村产生巨大影响，加速那里的经济和社会发展。但也有人认为，这笔庞大资金似乎应用在更基本的需求方面。

Lift-off for the O3b - or "Other 3 Billion" - satellite system occurred last week in French Guiana. The system goes "live" later this year when eight satellites will enter a lower orbit to provide a faster connection.

上星期，名为“O3B”的卫星系统从法属圭亚那升空。O3B是“其余30亿”的英文缩称。这个系统今年晚些时候将正式投入使用。

Its backers include Google and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, among others.

这个项目的支持者包括“谷歌”以及“南部非洲开发银行”等。

Founder Greg Wyler said the "Other 3 Billion" are the people on the planet without access to fast Internet.

该项目创始人格里格·韦勒说，所谓“其余三十亿”是指全球不能宽带上网的三十亿人口。

“This will enable everybody, and it will be a cascading effect, but it enables everybody in these societies to become economically relevant to the rest of the world,” he said.

韦勒说：“扩散效用将因此产生，该项目能使这些国家所有人，每一个人，经济上同整个国际社会息息相关。”

Fast connection, pervasive coverage

The O3b satellites will provide Internet coverage anywhere within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator.

O3B卫星提供的互联网服务，将能覆盖北纬45度与南纬45度之间的任何地方。

Rival Inmarsat will launch a satellite Internet system called Global Xpress later this year.

其竞争对手“国际海事卫星组织”（INMARSAT）今年晚些时候将启动名为“全球快速”（Global Xpress）的卫星互联网系统。

Dele Meiji Fatunla, web editor for Britain’s Royal African Society, said, “In the rural areas I think it would have an impact on the way people can get information related to healthcare, information related to education.”

德里·梅杰·法图拉是英国皇家非洲学会的网络编辑。他说：“我认为， 在农村地区，这将对人们获得保健和教育信息的方式产生影响。”

In the Atlantic off west Africa, cable-laying ships completed the submarine West Africa Cable System last year. Sub-Saharan Africa alone has nine submarine cables, with a total capacity of 22 terabytes.

连接伦敦和西非的海底“西非电缆系统”，是替代卫星通讯的一种方式，并且已于去年建成。仅非洲撒哈拉以南地区目前就有九条水下电缆，总容量达22太字节。

Fatunla said broadband boosts economic growth.

法图拉说，宽带将大力促进经济发展。

“I think a lot of small and medium enterprises would benefit from that," he said. "And it might also have a political impact in the sense that the Internet, if it’s fairly open, will allow organizations and people to mobilize much more effectively.”

他说：“我认为，许多中小企业将因此受益。另外，宽带还可能具有政治影响，也就是说，如果互联网非常开放的话，将能使许多团体和民众的动员能力更加有效。”

Other pressing needs

But broadband by itself won’t revolutionize governance, said Charles Kenny of the Center for Global Development in Washington.

不过，设在首都华盛顿的全球发展中心的查尔斯·肯尼说，宽带本身并不能使政府发生根本性变化。

“If government isn’t picking up the phone, if you will, if government isn’t answering the emails, just having a broadband connection isn’t going to help,” he said.

肯尼说：“假如政府不接电话，对电子邮件不予答复，那末只有宽带连接还是无济于事。

And when it comes to healthcare, said Kenny, government money would be better spent on basic needs.

肯尼说，谈到保健问题，政府资金最好还是用在基本需求上。

“Vaccines, bed nets, it’s the very basic health interventions that are having a huge impact. Africa doesn’t have many doctors; it doesn’t matter if they’re all connected to broadband. So I think particularly where it comes to health, broadband may not be the ‘wiz-bang’ solution,” he said.

他说：“疫苗，蚊帐，这些是影响巨大的基本型健康措施。非洲没有很多医生，他们即使全都连上宽带也没有多大作用。宽带并不是解决问题的灵丹妙药。”

But Fatunla said broadband’s potential should not be underestimated.

但是法图拉说，宽带的潜能不应低估。

“You have to remember that there’s going to be a core of people who are active in societies in Africa, particularly civil society, who will benefit from there being better access to information," he said. "And I think those people will, in turn, be able to pressure government structures a lot more.”

法图拉说：“必须记住，非洲将出现活跃的社会核心人物，特别是在公民社会内。这些人会因为获得信息较好而受益匪浅。我认为，这些人将能更有力地影响政府结构。”

Analysts warn that even though the satellites and cables are connecting to Africa, the prices charged by Internet service providers on the ground need to be lower before broadband’s full potential is realized.

不过分析人士警告说，虽然卫星和电缆正在通到非洲，但是，当地因特网服务商收取的费用必须降低，才能完全发挥宽带技术的潜能。