Facebook Wants To Supply Airborne Internet To The Whole World

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Facebook is aiming to bring the internet to underserved parts of the world. To do so it has teamed up with defence contractor Raytheon, a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveals.

The filing, submitted by FCL Tech Inc, a subsidiary created for Facebook’s Connectivity Lab programme, asked for special authority to test “applications for air to ground communications in the E-band.”

Facebook plans to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to bring the internet to those areas were connectivity is sparse, such as under- or un-developed countries, by “operating one ground station and one aeroplane-mounted station. Each station will have one E-band radio and one discovery radio operating at 2.385 GHz,” according to the filing.

For these purposes Facebook is developing its very own drone, the Aquila, and with the wingspan of a Boeing 737 (ranging from 31 to 42 meters) it’s quite a beast. The drone is capable of flying up to 90 days at a time at an altitude of 18 to 27.5 kilometers.

Facebook will be using “experimental” technology from Raytheon as well radio technology from Silvus Technologies that was designed for “mesh networking in harsh environments.”

Facebook will be testing communication over wireless spectrum at 2.385 GHz, 71 to 76 GHz, and 81 to 86 GHz.

Facebook’s Connectivity Labs is also working on laser communications technology for high-speed data transmission to use with the drones. It is unknown at this stage if this technology will be part of the tests.

The testing is to be conducted in Southern California next month.

Google, Facebook’s rival in the airborne internet race, recently received approval from the FCC to conduct its own testing of an aircraft and ground system in New Mexico, Oregon, and California.