Facebook may be closing in on Dream Drone deal

Published March 5, 2014
Facebook is in talks to buy drone maker Titan Aerospace- part of founder Mark Zuckerberg's goal of making the internet available and affordable to everyone on the planet, according to mediareports. - Video by Reuters

Facebook may be getting closer to its goal to make the internet accessible to the entire planet.

Media reports say its in talks to buy solar powered drone maker Titan Aerospace for $60 million.

The so-called "atmospheric satellites"could beam internet signals around the world.

Titan CEO Vern Raburn woundn't comment on any deal, but told Reuters Titan has flown a scaled down prototype of the plane. Commercial operations are scheduled for 2015.

The concept is similar to Google's Project Loon- aiming at using solar powered air balloons to beam the internet to remote regoins.

According to TechCrunch, they would build 11,000 solar powered drones that could stay in the air for 5 years, and would provide 3G internet access in regions like Africa.

To avoid legal issues, they would stay above FAA regulated airspace. But there could be other red flags.

Getting the whole world online is a dream of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's. He spoke about it, and the internet.org effort- at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Titan Aerospace is privately held and based in New Mexico.

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