Forsway, Cloudpoint establish Xtend Solutions FZCO
January 17, 2024
In a joint venture, Forsway and Cloudpoint have announced a collaboration to establish Xtend Solutions FZCO a new provider of low-cost content streaming solutions aimed at providing robust internet connectivity to serve geographies with unreliable or no service. Xtend Solutions’ new offering harnesses Forsway’s satellite technology and ground equipment and Cloudpoint’s extensive expertise in delivering solutions on a wide scale.
The offering from Xtend Solutions will cater to unserved and underserved locations using Wi-Fi satellite technology to distribute content, bypassing the need for a traditional internet connection. Cloudpoint will promote and deploy the new offering with tech support from Forsway.
Primary markets of focus for the new venture are India, Africa and Southeast Asia, within the education, digital outdoor advertising, and OTT services (network offloading) verticals. As an example, current estimates place over 100,000 schools in India with fragmented or no internet service, the first roll-out is planned for remote school user cases in Asia in Q1.
“ The joint venture with Forsway is a highly complementary partnership in a global arena with huge geographic areas still lacking reliable internet connectivity,” said Himanshu Patil, Director of Cloudpoint and CEO of Xtend Solutions. Together we can address the digital divide by providing the go to market strength of Cloudpoint combined with the cutting-edge cost-efficient satellite technology from Forsway. Rural areas are less profitable for 5G companies than urban centers, so little investment has been made, continues Patil. 5G is a reality that exists only on paper for most parts of India today. By enabling access to the latest in education to a large number of students we hope to harness technology for making a difference, we see education and schools as a compelling case for rolling out the first Xtend Solutions users.”
Tobias Forsell, CEO at Forsway and Chairman at Xtend Solutions, added: “From a long-term perspective, incredibly there are still billions of people around the globe that need to bridge the digital divide. The European Space Agency, NGOs, and governments alike are promoting grants and initiatives aimed at connecting the underserved. It is down to a matter of basic access to education, development opportunities for communities, access to health information and more. With Xtend Solutions we see the possibility to connect people and communities to build a better future.”