Amazon took another major step toward the completion of Project Kuiper, its effort to provide internet access via satellite, by acquiring a team of more than a dozen Facebook employees based in Los Angeles in April to work on the initiative.
Amazon paid Facebook an undisclosed amount as part of the deal, which now has the employees working on delivering internet connectivity from “low Earth orbit satellites,” according to a report by The Information confirmed by a Facebook spokesperson.
The transaction means Facebook is scrapping its plans to deliver internet connectivity to remote areas using its own satellites, an effort that started in 2018 as a way “to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where internet connectivity is lacking or nonexistent.” Facebook had also tried to use internet drones to bring connectivity to remote areas, but ended that effort in 2018.
Amazon first started exploring satellite-based internet connectivity in 2019, with plans that include a US$10 billion investment that will launch 3,236 satellites into a low-earth orbit by 2029. The goal is the same as the one Facebook just scrapped: internet for “unserved and underserved communities around the world.”
Amazon estimates that it will be able to provide internet connectivity to 95% of the world’s population through this initiative. About four billion people worldwide don’t currently have reliable internet access
The FCC approved Amazon’s network plan last year, and the company plans to launch half of its satellites by 2026. The company is building a lab in Redmond, Washington, according to The Information, and about 500 Amazon employees are working on Project Kuiper.
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