According to technology blog Techcrunch and CNBC, Facebook is in preliminary talks to buy Titan Aerospace. It could be the next step towards providing internet access to populations living in remote parts of the globe. However both the sites did not reveal the name of the sources and people who are familiar with the deal has pegged the price at $60 million.
Both Facebook and Titan Aerospace have refused to comment on these rumors. If Facebook indeed purchases Titan Aerospace it will be a step towards the realization of Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet.org project. The Facebook dream project aims to connect 5 billion people from a world population of 7 billion. A similar project is being pursued by Google and is named Project Loon.
This could be the next step in the broader goal of Facebook to connect the entire globe. Titan Aerospace is a New Mexico based Drone maker. Facebook is interested in Titan’s solar powered drones which can stay airborne for five years and will be useful in the realization of its dream of connecting 5 billion people across the globe.
Internet.org was an initiative which was announced by Facebook last year and envisages bringing Internet connectivity to more than 5 billion people across the globe. Titan’s drones could be used as platforms for launching internet connectivity to remote areas of the globe. The $60 million price tag if correct is trivial when one considers $16 billion which Facebook shelled out to acquire the messaging app WhatsApp last month.
Drones have become the hottest area of technology and every major US companies like FedEx and Amazon all having plans to employ these unmanned platforms for global internet connectivity. Google’s Project Loon is also a pilot testing program using a solar powered helium balloons to serve as a platform for providing internet global connectivity.
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