Facebook to use drones to bring Internet connectivity, can dump telecoms

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced the Facebook Connectivity Lab, a division within his company that is working with drones, satellites and lasers to bring Internet connectivity.

Apparently, the social media network will compete with Google, which has a similar project, and several global telecom service providers which may not be willing to lower Internet rates and reach the untapped markets — especially rural telecom world.

The effort is a part of Internet.org, a global partnership that was launched last year with the mission of connecting everyone on the planet to the Internet.

The objective is clear. Facebook, one of the primary backers of the Internet.org initiative, aims to bring affordable Internet access to the 5 billion people in the world who still lack connectivity.

At the Mobile World Congress 2014, Zuckerberg had urged telecom operators to lower Internet rates. Recently, Uninor and Aircel, two Indian telecoms, announced their Facebook data packages to attract users for using their mobile Internet.

Also read: Facebook Zuckerberg wants to spread mobile Internet with telecoms support

Since Facebook did not get enough support from telecoms to spread Internet, which can enhance life and productivity of citizens, drones, satellites and lasers will make sense. Comparing with $19 billion WhatsApp deal, the investment in drones will be relatively small.

“Our goal with Internet.org is to make affordable access to basic Internet services available to every person in the world,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.

Internet.org released two videos explaining how users will be able to connect to the Internet. One, shows a simulation of a solar-powered drone flying through the air while the other shows  Facebook staffer explaining the Connectivity Lab’s work.

Facebook plans to use high-altitude drones capable of flying for months to deliver connectivity to users in suburban areas.

In areas of lower density, Facebook would use low-orbit satellites to beam Internet signals to users. The drones and the satellites would communicate with one another and deliver data by a process using lasers known as free-space optical communication

“FSO is a promising technology that potentially allows us to dramatically boost the speed of Internet connections provided by satellites and drones,” according to a statement on Internet.org.

Also read: Telecoms to step up revenue share demand from Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, etc

rural Internet by Facebook

Facebook in talks with Titan Aerospace

Facebook is in talks to purchase Titan Aerospace, a company that produces solar-powered drones, for $60 million as part of this effort. Google is working on Project Loon, which uses giant balloons to deliver Internet access.

Titan Aerospace’s solar-powered drones can travel in around the globe, relying on the sun for power to stay aloft for years at a time. They carry a payload of up to 250 pounds.

Google working on Project Loon

Facebook is now competing directly with Google and its Project Loon to bring internet access to the rapidly shrinking landscape of the unwired world. Loon, which has been in beta testing since 2011, uses a swarm of weather balloons that cruise through the stratosphere and beam web access down to special receivers on the ground.

Will telecoms support content providers?

Currently, debate is going on in the U.S. regarding the pricing of high speed broadband Internet for using content from Netflix. For instance, AT&T on last Friday dismissed Netflix’s recent call for free interconnection as an arrogant and unfair attempt to force others to pay for the content provider to gain access to faster broadband speeds and better services.

In January a U.S. appeals court rejected federal rules that required Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally, a decision that could allow mobile carriers and other broadband providers to charge content providers for faster access to websites and services, Reuters reported.

In February, Netflix struck a deal to pay Comcast Corp for faster online delivery of its movies and TV shows through a practice known as interconnection, after customers complained about slow service.

Pix source: Voiceofafrica

Baburajan K
[email protected]