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BT signs £5 million deal with Altitude Angel to create the world’s largest drone superhighway in the UK
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BT has struck a deal to build the world’s largest drone superhighway in the UK.
The FTSE 100 telecoms giant has signed a £5 million deal with Altitude Angel, an aerospace company from Reading that specializes in unified traffic management, the technology that allows drones to fly safely over long distances without a pilot.
Altitude is behind Project Skyway, which aims to build a 165-mile drone network spanning the airspace over Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby.
BT has signed a £5 million deal with Altitude Angel, a Reading aerospace company specializing in the technology that allows drones to fly safely over long distances without a pilot
BT will provide its connectivity and infrastructure to maintain Arrow, the Altitude technology on which Project Skyway is based.
It will resell Altitude’s software and provide commercial support for drones used for remote deliveries and inspections.
BT director of drones Dave Pankhurst will also join Altitude’s board.
It hopes to enable Altitude to expand beyond the 265-mile area, saying the network could cover ‘thousands of miles, connecting towns and cities across the country and helping the UK’ unlocking the multi-billion pound drone economy.”
“This partnership is a natural extension of BT’s work,” said Tom Guy from BT’s digital incubation unit.
Altitude boss Richard Parker added: “Combining our technology…with BT’s key communications infrastructure will allow us to bring Arrow to the masses quickly.”
Although the sector is currently mainly used by hobbyists and photographers, it is estimated to be worth £45 billion by 2030.