BT has sealed a deal to create the world’s largest drone super-highway in the UK.
The FTSE 100 telecoms giant has inked a £5million agreement with Altitude Angel, a Reading aviation firm that specialises in unified traffic management, the technology that allows drones to fly safely over long distances without a pilot.
Altitude is behind Project Skyway, which is aiming to build a 165-mile-long drone network spanning airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby.
BT has inked a £5m agreement with Altitude Angel, a Reading aviation firm that specialises in the technology that allows drones to fly safely over long distances without a pilot
BT will provide its connectivity and infrastructure to help maintain Arrow, the Altitude technology upon which Project Skyway is based.
It will resell Altitude’s software as well as providing commercial support for drones to be used for deliveries and remote inspections.
BT director of drones Dave Pankhurst will also take a seat on Altitude’s board.
It hopes to allow Altitude to expand beyond the 165-mile area, saying the network could cover ‘thousands of miles’, connecting towns and cities across the country and helping the UK ‘unlock the multi-billion pound drone economy’.
‘This partnership is a natural extension to BT’s work,’ said Tom Guy, of BT’s digital incubation unit.
‘Altitude boss Richard Parker added: ‘Combining our technology… with BT’s significant communications infrastructure, we can quickly bring Arrow to the masses.’
While currently used mostly by hobbyists and photographers, the sector is estimated to be worth £45billion by 2030.
