Amazon Gears Up To Test Wireless Communications System

Amazon is reportedly gearing up to test a wireless communications system at its headquarters in Seattle and in rural Washington.

According to a report by GeekWire, citing a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Amazon said it “seeks FCC experimental authority to evaluate prototype equipment and associated software designed to support innovative communications capabilities and functionalities.” GeekWire noted the filing didn’t say what exactly Amazon is up to, but Business Insider highlighted the fact that the contact on the filing is Neil Woodward, who is a former astronaut with NASA and is now a senior manager for flight test and certification for Amazon Prime Air. That, according to the reports, implies the project has something to do with wireless communications for its delivery drone project.

The filing went on to say that Amazon “proposes initially to operate a limited number of low-power, temporary fixed-base transmitters and associated mobile units indoors at and near its company facilities in Seattle, Washington. Additional tests would be conducted outdoors at a remote, rural location near its facilities at Kennewick, Washington.” Amazon wants approval from the FCC to conduct tests for five months to give it enough time to collect enough data and to assess the performance and reliability characteristics of the prototype equipment and software.

It has long been known that Amazon wants to get into the drone market, but a recent report showed just how long the eCommerce giant has been testing drones for delivery of products. A chain of email correspondences revealed that Amazon has been testing its drone technology in U.K. airspace for much longer than initially believed. The correspondences were written between Amazon and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the organization responsible for regulating safety, economics and consumer protection for commercial aviation in the U.K. The 45-page correspondence was uploaded to the CAA’s website after someone filed a freedom of information request. Amazon has been in contact with the CAA since 2014 and has been testing drones in U.K. airspace since summer 2015. Before the release of the documents, most were under the impression that Amazon’s drones had only come to the U.K. in summer 2016.