The Divide: How Astranis plans to connect Peru with small satellites

In Latin American countries like Peru, rugged terrain in rural and mountainous areas make accessing the Internet a challenge for millions of people.

"It's just not economical to run fiber out to each of those areas," said John Gedmark, CEO of Astranis. That's where companies like his come in.

Astranis is a San Francisco-based microGEO satellite company. Back in December, the company announced it was embarking on a partnership with mobile provider Grupo Andesat to deliver 4G Internet to millions of people for the first time.

On this episode of The Divide, we hear more from Gedmark about Astranis' satellite technology and why the company is well placed to help tackle the digital divide in regions like Peru.

Off air, we also discussed Astranis' plans to deploy satellite connectivity over Alaska this coming spring. "The satellite just finished up with this big test campaign to make sure that it's ready, and it passed through that with flying colors," said Gedmark.

Astranis, which was founded in 2005, raised $250 million in a series C round last year, which Gedmark says has been necessary to scale the team.

"We just see the demand coming from all corners of the Earth, every single day, hearing from people that need more connectivity and are really interested in this model of having their own satellites," he said. "So what we are focused on right now is scaling up the company and our manufacturing capabilities so we can build many of these satellites."

Related episodes:

• The Divide: MTA's Wanda Tankersley on Alaska's middle-mile problem
• The Divide: Hughes' Paul Gaske on upping speeds with a 'massive new satellite'
• The Divide: What Viasat's Evan Dixon wants DC to know about satellite broadband

— Nicole Ferraro, site editor, Broadband World News; senior editor, global broadband coverage, Light Reading. Host of "The Divide" on the Light Reading Podcast.