Facebook is developing helicopter drones to provide Internet access to disaster areas

Facebook announced that it is working on building a small helicopter drone that could bring Internet in areas affected by disasters. The Tether-tenna drone, which is still in research phase, would be suited for usage during natural disasters, when infrastructures are damaged, but some fiber lines still work. The drone would connect to the fiber line and create a virtual tower by flying few hundred feet from the ground, thus using radio waves to bring back connectivity in case of emergency. Facebook’s intention is to develop the technology to the extent that it could operate autonomously for months at a time.