Facebook wants to bring the internet to developing countries with drones

Facebook has announced that its Internet.org initiative aims to provide developing countries with internet access via drones. These must be kept in the air for months with solar panels.

The announcement was made on the website of Internet.org, a consortium of technology companies led by Facebook. Under the name Connectivity Lab, work has been done on an unmanned aircraft that can fly autonomously at an altitude of about 20 km and provide an internet connection on the ground. These should be deployed in urban areas. The consortium wants to provide internet via satellite in more rural areas.

According to Facebook, the drone, which was partly developed by NASA, among others, can fly autonomously for months. The aircraft is powered by a series of solar panels placed on the wings. A technology called free-space optical communication is used to set up the Internet connection. With this technique, data is transferred via infrared signals.

Facebook previously announced the Internet.org consortium, which includes Samsung, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Ericsson, Nokia and Opera. The goal of the organization is to bring Internet access to developing countries through mobile networks. No concrete plans had previously been presented on how this should be achieved.