
Wi-Fi sharing app wants the whole world to share its satellite internet
Can a Chinese startup succeed where Facebook and Alphabet failed?
November 30th, 2018: Updated to clarify Google’s projects.
Chinese company LinkSure said that it’s planning to invest 3 billion yuan (US$431 million) to launch 272 satellites by 2026, aiming to provide free internet for the entire world. The first, LinkSure No 1, will be launched next year, and the first 10 will be in orbit before 2020, the company claims.
Many see satellite internet -- internet provided by, you guessed it, satellites -- as the solution to getting more people in remote areas onto the web, which the current ground-based cable internet is not able to do because of various landscape challenges. But similar attempts by some of the world’s biggest internet companies have not been very successful.

If you haven’t heard of LinkSure, don’t worry because it’s not even widely known in China, even though its main product is one of the most popular apps in the country.
Many are also taking the opportunity to make fun of China’s internet censorship. “Does it come with the Great Firewall?” one user joked on Weibo.
China’s own version of GPS is coming
For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
