The ever-changing world of wireless Internet access keeps an eagle eye on Facebook’s drone and satellite effort, which would ultimately connect four to five billion more people to the Internet. The drone has a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 767 yet uses lightweight materials that allow it to weigh less than a car. It has to be incredibly light, because it’s going to be kept aloft for as long as three months at a time using solar power.
The question is, will Facebook open-source their plans forcing the ISPs to extend their existing network to places without Internet access today.
Coupled with Google’s ‘Project Loon’ (a network of balloons travelling on the edge of space powering internet for everyone) the global community truly could be expanding. With two thirds of the world’s population currently without Internet access it’s about time the coverage gap was filled.