Meta shuts down its Connectivity division after almost a decade

Meta’s shuttering its Connectivity arm nearly 10 years after launching the initiative, in accordance with a report from Gentle Studying. The corporate confirmed to each Gentle Studying and Fierce Wi-fi that it’ll as a substitute break up the division throughout its Infrastructure and Central Merchandise groups.

Meta Connectivity (previously Fb Connectivity) launched in 2013 with the aim of getting extra individuals on-line so they might use the corporate’s social networks. By means of the initiative, the firm developed after which shut down a undertaking that concerned autonomous, high-flying drones beaming the web to underserved components of the world. It additionally labored on making a Starlink-like web system utilizing low Earth orbit satellites, however the employees creating it have been picked up by Amazon final yr.

As famous by Gentle Studying, Meta Connectivity’s shutdown shouldn’t have an effect on the corporate’s involvement within the Telecom Infra Undertaking (TIP), which Meta helped present in 2016. The TIP is a gaggle of telecom firms, service suppliers, and connectivity stakeholders that helps promote the event of latest telecom infrastructure. Dan Rabinovitsj, the previous head of Meta Connectivity, continues to be with the corporate, though it’s unclear if he’ll transfer to a different division.