Competitor Watch
A new regulatory filing from Amazon reveals how it wishes to further speed up delivery of items to customers through its network of Amazon lockers.
The first method described in the patent is to deliver items such as DVDs to lockers without the packaging that would be required if shipping items to other locations. Amazon claims this may provide a ‘better experience for the customer, reduce waste in packaging material and a lower cost of delivering the ordered items to the customer.’
Amazon also wants to use its lockers as pick up locations to store and deliver high-volume and/or release day items such as new model smartphones, video games and books. The company envisions placing those items in lockers ahead of time so that when release day comes, it can email customers who pre-ordered the products with a location and code so they can pick up the item without delay.
Separately, it has emerged that Amazon plans to launch more than 3,000 satellites into low Earth orbit to provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to ‘unserved and underserved communities around the world.’
The project will be run by Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems according to paperwork filed with the International Telecommunication Union, the international organisation in charge of coordinating satellite orbits.
Amazon’s Kuiper constellation will provide data coverage for areas between 56 degrees north (e.g. Edinburgh) to 56 degrees south (e.g. Cape Horn), an area encompassing 95% of the world's population. The United Nations estimates that almost 4bn people globally are underserved when it comes to internet access.
No timeline for the project has been given and a network of ground-based stations will be required for the satellites to communicate with. Amazon will also need the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) approval before it can launch any satellites. The FCC will consider issues such as orbital congestion as well as Amazon’s plans for decommissioning its satellites at the end of its operation.
