Afrique Telecom, Eutelsat and Wikimédia France are partnering with each other to make French-language Wikipedia content available through WiFi hotspots, starting from French-speaking African countries.
Afrique Telecom, over the years, has combined efforts with Eutelsat to deploy internet solutions to places all over Sub-Saharan Africa. This time around, they are offering free, unlimited access, using servers located at “TamTam” hotspots that will locally host French-language Wikipedia content. The content will be updated regularly via a satellite link provided by Eutelsat. This initiative, starting in French-speaking Africa, supports Wikimédia France’s strategy to promote free access to educational content, in particular through Wikipedia.
In a press release, Afrique Telecom highlighted the plan to roll out ‘TamTam’ “to between 4,000 and 8,000 hotspots in the next two years.” It also noted that “Eutelsat has agreed to finance servers hosted by the first 1,000 hotspots as a springboard that will also measure the impact of the service.”
