Cloudflare has launched a new project to extend Internet access to communities with limited resources and inaccessible access for many different reasons.
Today Monday, the cloud service provider said that Project Pangea, is now available in eligible communities, and will reduce the high cost of bandwidth in areas that cannot utilize any existing telecommunications infrastructure to gain internet access possibly due to location or cost.
The communities (local groups and non-profit organizations) that will be accepted into Project Pangea will be able to use the Cloudflare network to “build their own telecommunications infrastructure [and] find a free and sustainable way to connect to the Internet for communication to education and economic development. "
According to Matthew Prince, co-founder & CEO of Cloudflare, reliable Internet access should be considered a "basic human right", as more and more people rely on the Web for training, business expansion and contact others.
"Unfortunately, many communities are building their own infrastructure because of the high cost of bandwidth, which is prohibitive for their data," Prince said. "We want to help where we can - if they have already built something, we want to make our network a safe, accessible way to the global Internet."
Cloudflare reports that the new Project Pangea will provide a free "on-ramp" to the Web, and the organizers of each community network will have access to the company's three security tools: Cloudflare Network Interconnect, Magic Transit and Magic Firewall.
Participants should be non-profit, cooperative networks or small / private commercial networks operating for local communities. In addition, they should have their own IPv4 space and should be able to create a backhaul at an exchange point.
