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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Google begins launching Internet-beaming balloons - Asia news - Boston.com

This reminds me of some other, shall we say... Free "ISP" Projects that I have seen. Like, on that planned to launch small satellites to share an Internet Connection around the World. I know that this on is on my Blog, somewhere. But, I don't remember the name of the Project and can't find it, right now. There were a couple more that involved Sharing a WiFi over whole Communities too. But, when you have the money that Google has... Well, things can really get done...

Don

Google begins launching Internet-beaming balloons

The Associated Press In this June 10, 2013 photo released by Google, solar panels and electronics are prepared for launch in Tekapo, New Zealand. Google is testing balloons which sail in the stratosphere and beam the Internet to Earth. (AP Photo/Google, Andrea Dunlap) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

By MARTHA MENDOZA and NICK PERRY / Associated Press / June 15, 2013

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — Google is launching Internet-beaming antennas into the stratosphere aboard giant, jellyfish-shaped balloons with the lofty goal of getting the entire planet online.

Eighteen months in the works, the top-secret project was announced Saturday in New Zealand, where up to 50 volunteer households are already beginning to receive the Internet briefly on their home computers via translucent helium balloons that sail by on the wind 12 miles above Earth.

While the project is still in the very early testing stages, Google hopes eventually to launch thousands of the thin, polyethylene-film inflatables and bring the Internet to some of the more remote parts of the globe, narrowing the digital divide between the 2.2 billion people who are online and the 4.8 billion who aren't.

Skipping on down...

In recent years, military and aeronautical researchers have used tethered balloons to beam Internet signals back to bases on Earth. Google’s balloons would be untethered and out of sight, strung out in a line around the globe. They would ride the winds around the world while Google ground controllers adjusted their altitude to keep them moving along the desired route.

Ground stations about 60 miles apart would bounce Internet signals up to the balloons. The signals would hop backward from one balloon to the next to keep people continuously connected. Solar panels attached to the inflatables would generate electricity to power the Internet circuit boards, radios and antennas, as well as the onboard flight-control equipment.

Each balloon would provide Internet service for an area twice the size of New York City, or about 780 square miles, and because of their high altitude, rugged terrain is not a problem. The balloons could even beam the Internet into Afghanistan’s steep and winding Khyber Pass.

‘‘Whole segments of the population would reap enormous benefits, from social inclusion to educational and economic opportunities,’’ said DePauw University media studies professor Kevin Howley.

Once in place, the light but durable balloons wouldn’t interfere with aviation because they fly twice as high as airplanes and well below satellites, said Richard DeVaul, an MIT-trained scientist who founded Project Loon and helped develop Google Glass, eyeglasses with a tiny, voice controlled computer display.

In the U.S., however, Google would have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration when the balloons are on their way up or down. The company is talking with regulators in other countries about meeting their requirements.

The Internet signals travel in the unlicensed spectrum, which means Google doesn’t have to go through the onerous regulatory processes required for Internet providers using wireless communications networks or satellites.

At this stage, the company is putting a few dozen balloons up over New Zealand and then bringing them down after a short period. Later this year, Google hopes to have as many as 300 of them circling the globe continuously along the 40th parallel, on a path that takes them over New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Argentina.

Covering the whole world would require thousands of the balloons. No timetable has been set for that.

Read More...
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/2013/06/15/google-begins-launching-internet-beaming-balloons/WYpNz4022zpfXDVBJiHOgI/story.html

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