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Facebook Secretly Explored Building Bird-Size Drones To Ferry Data To People With Bad Internet Connections (businessinsider.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Facebook recently explored building bird-size drones loaded with data to help improve people's internet connections. From a report: The Menlo Park, California-headquartered technology giant worked on a far-out project, called Catalina, in recent years that aimed to build tiny fixed-wing aircraft capable of ferrying media to communities to augment slow internet connections like 2G, Business Insider has learned. The efforts illustrate how Facebook has been exploring out-of-the-box concepts in its attempts to connect people around the world to the internet for the first time and grow Facebook's user base. And it shows that even amid Facebook's public retreat in June from building 747-size "Aquila" drones to provide internet connectivity to emerging markets, the company was also considering other, even less conventional aerial methods of providing connectivity solutions. Development of Catalina began in late 2017 or earlier, a source said, and work on it continued past June. Also in the story: Facebook has pursued some additional low-tech connectivity efforts. "Street Feet" was an internal effort that paid people in emerging markets to physically approach random people on the street and persuade them to sign up for Facebook.

4 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Media = Ads by reanjr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And by media, they mean advertisements.

  2. Re:What's the business plan? by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not all people who have bad internet connection are poor. It is just that they are not absurdly rich to get ISP's to get wires to their home. Some farmers who actually make a good living, may be miles away from the Internet Infrastructure, however will benefit getting information on weather, commodity prices, veterinarian results, bank account data, new on any new regulations, and communication with others.

    There is a difference between East Coast rural, then mid-west rural. East Coast farms may have a few thousand acres, still small enough to be in rage of Cell Data, But in the mid-west a ranch are measured in square miles. Not profitable to put up Cell Towers to additional ISP wires (Cable/Fiber)

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    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  3. Re:What's the business plan? by rnturn · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ``Not all people who have bad internet connection are poor. It is just that they are not absurdly rich to get ISP's to get wires to their home. Some farmers who actually make a good living, may be miles away from the Internet Infrastructure, however will benefit getting information on weather, commodity prices, veterinarian results, bank account data, new on any new regulations, and communication with others.''

    I submit that those folks would be excellent candidates for satellite-based internet access. All of the activities listed would be well served by that technology. Drones? You gotta be kidding.

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    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  4. Headline needs some interpreting, I think: by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I think in the case of Facebook the real headline should read:

    Facebook Secretly Explored Building Bird-Size Drones To Ferry Personal Data From People With Bad Internet Connections

    Amirite?