For almost a decade, what became Meta Connectivity had sought innovative technologies that could connect people to the company's social network. But that's over now.
After almost a decade of running the operation, Meta has shut down Facebook Connectivity.
Meta, formerly Facebook, confirmed to Light Reading it would fold what is now called Meta Connectivity into two other groups within the company: "Infrastructure" and "Central Products." The moves make sense considering Meta's "Infrastructure" team handles the company's work in areas such as subsea cabling.
The action will not affect Meta's participation in the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), which it helped to found in 2016. That group continues to develop open and disaggregated standards for various telecom technologies.
Figure 1: 
(Source: mundissima / Alamy Stock Photo)
Meta Connectivity, which launched in 2013, sought to develop innovative connection technologies – from solar-powered drones and fiber-laying robots to low-Earth orbit satellites – in order to extend the company's social network to more users.
Last year, the company estimated that more than 300 million people got access to faster Internet services thanks to Meta Connectivity.
The closure of Meta Connectivity stems from the massive round of layoffs Meta's Mark Zuckerburg announced earlier this month. He said he would reduce the size of the company by roughly 13%, laying off more than 11,000 employees. Meta has struggled to focus on metaverse products while its core social networking advertising business faces threats from the likes of Apple and others.
But other massive tech companies, including Amazon and Twitter, have engaged in similar layoffs.
Dan Rabinovitsj, the head of Meta Connectivity, is currently still with the company and may shift into another role.
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— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano
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