Google has announced the company’s plans for Titan, the drone company it acquired last year.
The announcement was made last week during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The plans for Titan are set to build on the success of Google’s Android operating system, as the Internet giant aims to take on US wireless carriers and spread Web access to more users around the world.
The Titan drones have the ability to stay aloft for long periods of time and are capable of providing Internet connectivity to people on the ground.
Under Project Titan, Google will start flying solar-powered planes to serve as wireless towers in areas without mobile Internet coverage.
Project Titan is similar to Google’s Project Loon, a high altitude balloon system that carries wireless antennas, and Project Link, which focuses on bringing Internet connections to billions of people without Internet access.
Google Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai said the project would help enhance people’s lives.
“It’s the kind of approach we’ve always done at Google, enabling platforms to make a big difference in people’s lives,” he said.
Pichai said the move for Google and other companies to provide this type of internet access to remote areas was an important step.
“I’m glad companies like Facebook and others around the world are working on these types of technologies,” he said.
Google plans to conduct Titan’s first test flight later this year.
