Amazon is reportedly testing a new wireless technology that might allow its customers to connect to the Internet on an exclusive network.
According to Bloomberg, the new network was tested in Cupertino, California, and uses spectrum controlled by the satellite comms company Globalstar.
Bloomberg did not reveal its sources for the report, and it is unclear how far along Amazon is in its research.
But it does point to an intriguing future for the company, which like most tech companies currently relies on pre-existing infrastructure for its tablet devices and e-readers. Amazon already runs 'WhisperNet', but that is largely a brand used to describe a simple syncing service for Kindle e-readers.
The report adds that a Globalstar advisor wrote to the FCC saying it was helping a "major technology company" look at how the ground-based comms system would work.
"Given that Amazon's becoming a big player in video, they could look into investing into forms of connectivity," independent wireless analyst Chetan Sharma told Bloomberg.
We'll have to wait and see what the results of this turn out to be. But given Google is already investing in its own high-speed fibre network, it wouldn't be totally unexpected if Amazon wanted to examine its own options.