New York (CNN Business) Amazon is one of the most powerful companies in the world. It has millions of Prime subscribers, owns a fleet of aircraft, streams Emmy-winning shows, and hosts the world's largest cloud storage platform. The growth of online giants like Amazon may be limited only by the number of people that have access to the internet.

But the majority of the world is still offline. Just over half of the total global population has access to the internet , the UN estimated at the end of last year. Amazon's latest project aims to change that.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced plans to build a constellation of miniature satellites that will whirl around the planet and deliver cheap, high-speed internet to every corner of the globe.

Amazon AMZN The initiative, called Project Kuiper, will probably cost billions of dollars and pose enormous technical challenges. But it makes perfect sense for

If Amazon wants to gobble up some of the untapped markets around the world, mainly in Asia and Africa, it will first have to solve the internet connectivity issue. Getting people online won't solve poverty, experts say, but it could still spur new businesses and create attractive new economies to do business in.

Read More