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Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Verizon, Amazon to use satellite system for rural broadband

"Verizon is partnering with Amazon to use the tech giant’s coming satellite internet system to expand rural broadband access in the United States, the companies announced Tuesday," Michael Sheetz reports for CNBC. "Amazon is working on Project Kuiper, a network of 3,236 satellites that it plans to use to provide high-speed internet to anywhere in the world."

Essentially, Verizon plans to use the system to expand its current network. The Federal Communications Commission greenlit the as-yet unlaunched Kuiper satellites last year, and Amazon says it plans to invest more than $10 billion in the project, Sheetz reports.

The system will compete with SpaceX's Starlink service. Starlight is still in its infancy, but has more than 1,740 satellites in orbit and 100,000 beta testers—including in rural West Virginia—paying $99 a month.

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