Who We Are

First Voice International is a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that bridges the information digital divide for millions of people in Africa and Asia by using its technology endowment and technology and partnering expertise to boost and amplify the ability of its donor, NGO and community partners to deliver life-saving and life-enhancing information to people who need it most.

Woman rebroadcasting satellite content via
FM radio from Bankilare, Niger

By combining multiple Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), including satellite radio, AM/FM radio, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), HF email, mobile phones, solar panels and ruggedized computers, FVI ensure the most efficient, cost effective and sustainable system for communication. By leveraging our endowment of 5% of the bandwidth on the WorldSpace satellite system, whose two satellites cover Africa, most of Asia and the Middle East, and much of the Pacific and Europe, FVI is able to bypass illiteracy, geographical isolation and inadequate infrastructure to bring vital programs to information-poor communities through the integration of both high and low technology solutions.

While one satellite receiver placed in a listening group serves the many listeners assembled there, the same receiver can reach thousands of ears when placed in a community radio station which rebroadcasts the content stream via AM/FM radio. Station operators may either air the programs live as they come off of FVI channels, or record them for later playback. High-quality FVI programming is thus made available to anyone nearby with a transistor radio.

Through effective partnerships such as these, First Voice makes possible unprecedented reach into communities which would otherwise remain off the grid, unheard, and unable to enjoy the information affluence much of the world takes for granted.