Light Reading reported that the Connectivity division has been shut down by Meta after 10 years. Meta is pulling the plug on Meta Connectivity which was previously known as Facebook Connectivity and launched in 2013. The division has been up in order to offer people internet connectivity in underserved places so more people show up online and make use of the company’s social media applications. It will now divide infrastructure and central products teams according to a report from The Verge.
The company has developed and later dropped a project involving high-flying, autonomous drones to take the internet to remote areas. Through this initiative, a low-Earth orbit satellite-based internet system is in focus which is similar to Starlink. But the Amazon team hired them and they started working on it just the previous year. It is unclear as of now to know when exactly Meta will shut down the Connectivity division. It seems to be a part of the mass scale layoffs and 11,000 jobs at the company were reorganised.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects further losses in 2023 as the company is investing in costly efforts to build metaverse. Also, Meta Connectivity big initiatives which involve drones, satellites and an internet-connected helicopter will also provide free internet in developing countries that will give users the access just to Facebook and a few other websites.
Earlier this year, another report from The Wall Street Journal found that a few users were getting charged by their mobile providers unknowingly due to an issue with the software of Facebook. Back in October 2021, it was said by Meta that the internet service provided by them offers connectivity to more than 300 million users worldwide. The shutdown of Meta Connectivity will not affect the company’s involvement with TIP or Telecom Infra Project, Light Reading mentioned. The former head of Meta Connectivity, Dan Rabinovitsj is still with the company so the process becomes more unclear as it is not known if he will change departments or not.
ALSO READ | Meta battles US antitrust agency over future of virtual reality
ALSO READ | Meta to possibly remove news from platform if US Congress’ media bill passes
