Some Question Company's True Motives For The Move

For much of the past year, Zipline, a U.S.-based robotics company, has been making deliveries of emergency blood supplies using fixed-wing drones. Payloads are dropped using a parachute, and the aircraft return to their home base before being recovered.

At a recent TEDGlobal conference, Keller Rinaudo, the CEO of the silicon valley-based company, said he has been discussing expanding the service with four distribution centers in Tanzania with the government there, according to a report from the BBC.

While Rinaudo said that he would like to establish a service to deliver a range of medical products to thousands of health centers in Tanzania, others have suggested that his ultimate goal is a drone delivery service in the U.S.

Last year, the U.K. Department for International Development promised funding for Zipline's African expansion. But according to the BBC, the World Bank said that the operations in Africa, while "doing wonders in terms of making drones real" there, is really being done to build a track record for the company to eventually offer a similar service in the U.S.

The deal with Tanzania, which has not yet been approved by the Tanzanian government, would be based on a pay-per-delivery model. Currently, the company charges between $15 and $45 per delivery based on distance, weight and urgency.

Rinaudo likened the charges to what would be expected if the deliveries were being made by car, and offered no apologies for a commercial model. He said one of the company's goals is to show that the challenge can be tackled "in an entrepreneurial way."

If approved in Tanzania, Zipline would open centers around the country over the next four years. Deliveries would include blood, vaccines and other medical supplies. It also hopes to expand its Rwandan service to include additional supplies. It currently seves 12 hospitals in Rwanda using a central distribution center.

(Images from file)

FMI: Original Report, flyzipline.com