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Facebook is teaming up with Qualcomm to work on high-speed wireless internet

Facebook is teaming up with Qualcomm to work on high-speed wireless internet

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Terragraph Facebook
Image: Facebook

Facebook has now enlisted Qualcomm to provide the tech for its gigabit Wi-Fi project that is meant to make sending data through routers more efficient and increase internet speeds. It’s called the Terragraph Project and it’s been in the works since Facebook first announced it at the company’s 2016 annual developer conference, describing the project as a “multi-node wireless system focused on bringing high-speed internet connectivity to dense urban areas.”

New Qualcomm chipsets will be integrated with the Terragraph technology so manufacturers can hopefully upgrade routers to be able to send data at the 60GHz frequency, which will increase broadband connections to higher speeds.

A Qualcomm spokesperson described it as a solution for both rural areas and urban areas that simply have spotty Wi-Fi in certain regions. Field tests are set to begin in the middle of next year, but there’s no word on when the Terragraph Project will actually go live. We’ve reached out to Facebook for more information.

Qualcomm is also making a 5G small cell chipset for phone manufacturers and carriers, which the company announced today as well. Qualcomm is already working with “early access” partners. There’s no word on exactly who those carriers will be, but given previous partnerships, it’s likely Nokia and Samsung could be among them. Samples of chipsets will become available next year, meaning that the product release will be further down the line than that.