Meta Shuts Down Connectivity Division After Decade

It is to be noted, launched 10 years ago, in 2013, Meta has reportedly shut down its Connectivity division, in December 2022.

As of now, the company would now split the division across its infrastructure and central products teams, confirmed a report from The Verge.

Meta Connectivity (formerly Facebook Connectivity) aimed to increase online usage so users could access the company's social networks. Under this Meta initiative, the company developed and later abandoned a project that involved high flying, autonomous drones to beam the internet to remote areas of the world.

Furthermore, the company also focused on creating a low Earth orbit satellite based internet system similar to Starlink, but Amazon hired the team working on it last year.

According to sources, the reason behind the Meta Connectivity Department shutdown is unclear. However, sources speculated the last month’s layoffs are one of the reasons behind the shutdown. Notably, Meta fired approximately 11,000 people from their jobs.

In addition, considering the current situation, Meta is expected to incur further losses in 2023 as the company is investing extensively in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's costly effort to build the metaverse.