The deal bolsters Amazon’s $10 billion effort to develop low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites capable of delivering high-speed broadband internet.
E-commerce major Amazon has acquired Facebook’s satellite internet team, comprising more than a dozen experts as it eyes satellite broadband roll out in the United States and abroad, The Information reported on Tuesday citing a Facebook spokesperson who confirmed the development.
The deal bolsters Amazon’s $10 billion effort to develop low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites capable of delivering high-speed broadband internet.
This will also enable it to compete neck-and-neck with the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Starlink network, Bharti Global-backed OneWeb, and Europe’s Eutelsat.
Starlink has already launched more than 1,600 satellites into orbit and it is now expanding its beta program whereas OneWeb seeks to offer services in India from May 2022.
OneWeb’s executive chairman Sunil Mittal recently said the company is on track to offer full global coverage in 2022 with an LEO constellation of 648 satellites.
Elaborating further, the report highlighted that Facebook’s team, which joined Amazon in April, includes physicists as well as hardware and software engineers having experience working on aeronautical and wireless systems.
The acquisition of experts also includes some intellectual property developed by the team, as well as equipment and facilities, the Facebook spokesperson informed the publication. However, the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Amazon had received Federal Communications Commission’s approval in July 2020 to launch 3,236 satellites under ‘Project Kuiper’. The company plans to make its satellite internet service online after launching 578 satellites into orbit.
ET reported earlier this month that the e-commerce giant is likely to approach the Indian government to discuss modalities, authorizations, permits, landing rights, among other issues for rolling out its satellite-based broadband services in the country.
An entry into the Indian satellite internet market could help Amazon tap into a share of $500 million near-term revenue opportunity from servicing millions of Indian customers in rural and far-flung areas, industry experts had told ET. Though it is not clear whether Amazon will partner with an existing telecom player in India or go alone.
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/amazon-acquires-facebooks-satellite-internet-team-report/84406768
