Well, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is working on a latest project that involves sending drones up in the sky to beam Internet connectivity around the world.
Mark Zuckerberg announced that Internet.org, an organisation that Facebook started in partnership with a few other technology companies, is experimenting with drones that are capable of beaming internet in an area from the sky.
In a post by Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, he stated that,
"We've been working on ways to beam Internet to people from the sky. Connecting the whole world will require inventing new technology too, That's what our Connectivity Lab focuses on, and there's a lot more exciting work to do here."
He further elaborated by saying,
"In our effort to connect the whole world with Internet.org, we've been working on ways to beam internet to people from the sky. Our team has many of the world's leading experts in aerospace and communications technology, including from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and Ames Research Center. Today we are also bringing on key members of the team from Ascenta, a small UK-based company whose founders created early versions of Zephyr, which became the world's longest flying solar-powered unmanned aircraft. They will join our team working on connectivity aircraft."
Internet.org was launched last year with an aim to bring down the cost of internet connectivity across the world so that more people can connect to the web and utilise web services. Last month at Mobile World Congress, Zuckerberg revealed that Internet.org was working with several telecom operators across the world to reduce the cost of internet connectivity.
Facebook revealed last Thursday that the team is exploring various methods to beam internet from sky is part of Connectivity Lab, a new department within Internet.org. It is exploring various options. A solar-powered drone is one option.
Internet.org made statement posted on its website saying that;
"For suburban areas in limited geographical regions, we've been working on solar-powered high altitude, long endurance aircraft that can stay aloft for months, be quickly deployed and deliver reliable internet connections. For lower density areas, low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites can beam internet access to the ground."
In both cases, the internet connection will be beamed through free-space optical communication, which makes use of light to transmit data through space using invisible, infrared laser beams.
Free-space optical communication is a promising technology that potentially allows us to dramatically boost the speed of internet connections provided by satellites and drones."
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, are also interested in connecting more people to the web. It was last year that Google announced Project Loon that intends to use high-altitude balloons to deliver fast internet in remote areas.
So what are the chances that Mark has on his attempts of boasting the Facebook up in the sky for more internet usage and power? We'll likely here more if there are new updates to be announced in the future.
