Facebook To Beam Wi-Fi Through Boeing 747-Sized Drones For Those Who Have No Access To Internet
Facebook has planned to beam Wi-Fi for those who don't have access to the internet. It has been estimated that about two-thirds of the population of the world has no access to the Internet.
Wi-Fi will be beamed using solar-powered drones that are the size of a Boeing 747, announced Facebook. Facebook said that the drones would be powered by the Sun and that it would fly in the air for months or years at a time, reported Science Alert.
The engineering director from the Connectivity Lab at Facebook, Yael Maguire, during an interview on September 22, said that in order for the drones to fly for months, they have to be placed above airspace. He added that it would be lighter than the commercial aircraft, but one of the designs was about six Toyota Pruises in length, weighing the same as four car tyres.
Carl Franzen, a reported from The Verge, said that by 2015, Facebook hoped to test the drones in the United States of America as well as trials in India and 21 other countries. There has been no report as to when the first internet drone will be launched and also how Facebook would comply with aircraft restrictions in the countries.
Facebook has been working on bringing internet connectivity to the developing countries through a non-profit organisation called Internet.org. It was launched in 2013 and has launched an application in the Republic of Zambia so that it can provide basic web services through cellular network.
Facebook has also gone on to join hands with Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung for its effort. A spokesperson from Facebook confirmed that though these companies were helping Facebook with bringing internet connectivity to the developing nations, it wasn't going to be a part of the drone project.
Google has been working on a similar project with one of the differences being that they have plans of making use of balloons in addition to the drones. Google's project has been named project Loon. Google has only performed a few tests of its ambitious proposal so far.