Facebook Wants To Use Laser To Deliver High-Speed Internet

Facebook unveiled a new laser-based concept for high-speed internet that will bypass the need for dedicated wavelength spectra and government licenses that come with them. Published Tuesday in the journal Optica, the technique was developed by researchers at Facebook's Connectivity Lab. The team is exploring a variety of technologies, including high-altitude long-endurance planes, satellites and lasers." It calls its new concept, which also uses drone technology, free-space optical communication. Explaining their rationale behind turning to laser for data transmission, the researchers say in the paper: "While optical communications have become the de facto standard for high-throughput wired communication channels, microwave and millimeter wave carrier frequencies are still the standard for wireless links. However, the limited availability of spectrum restricts the data rates that can be achieved through these channels."