The announcement about the partnership came Tuesday. Verizon intends to leverage Amazon's upcoming satellite system, named Project Kuiper, to extend the coverage of its 4G and 5G networks.
"Project Kuiper offers flexibility and unique capabilities for a LEO satellite system, and we’re excited about the prospect of adding a complementary connectivity layer to our existing partnership with Amazon," said Hans Vestberg, chairman and CEO of Verizon, in the announcement. "We know the future will be built on our leading 5G network, designed for mobility, fixed wireless access and real-time cloud compute."
While Amazon plans to invest $10 billion in Kuiper and has gotten approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch roughly 3,200 satellites, the company has yet to put a single satellite into orbit. Nonetheless, Verizon and Amazon are currently planning out how everything will work on a technical level.
In addition to giving rural households a wireless broadband option, the partnership also plans to "design and deploy new connectivity solutions across a range of domestic and global industries, from agriculture and energy to manufacturing and transportation," according to the announcement.
"The agriculture industry is going to see dramatic changes in how it operates and succeeds in the next several years," said Betsy Huber, president of The National Grange. "Smart farms, bringing technology to agriculture, and connecting the last mile of rural America will be at the forefront of helping our industry to provide food for billions around the globe."
The new partnership is seen as direct competition to Starlink, the satellite Internet service offered by Elon Musk's SpaceX company.
