Using balloons to provide Internet access around the world sounds like a joke. But Google seems serious, or at least mostly serious.
“The idea may sound a bit crazy–and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon–but there’s solid science behind it,” the Internet giant wrote on its blog late Friday.
And there’s a reason for Google to step up to consider such an effort, which The Wall Street Journal discussed in an article last month.
The company has plenty of money, and tends to make more of it the more people are connected to the Internet and increase the audience for advertising it delivers. Despite steady advances in Internet access, Google estimates for every one person that can get online there are two who can’t. And that’s the average; in some sparsely populated countries, a much greater percentage of people have no access.
Google’s plan for changing that is based on launching a fleet of radio-equipped balloons far up in the stratosphere, twice as high as commercial aircraft fly. Instead of trying to keep them one place–which is very difficult because of prevailing winds–Project Loon is based on the notion of riding those winds with groups of balloons in planned ways that keep them close enough to each other to form communications networks, the company says.
Signals pass among the balloons, as well as to antennas on the buildings of users on the ground and to control stations, the company says. The company says it designed its radios and antennas to send and receive signals from Project Loon only, filtering out interference that would make it hard to create high-bandwidth data connections over long distances.
The balloons are completely solar-powered, Google says, so they can stay aloft for a long time. It plans to keep air traffic controllers informed of balloon launches and descents, and direct them to land at collection points regularly to reuse and recycle their parts.
Proving it can actually work will take tests, of course. So the company says it has started a pilot program in the Canterbury area of New Zealand, with 50 testers trying to connect to its balloons. Assuming the results are positive, it plans further tests in similar latitudes to New Zealand, and to seek partners.
Besides providing connections to stationary antennas in rural areas, Google is also dreaming of connecting mobile devices eventually.
“We imagine someday you’ll be able to use your cell phone with your existing service provider to connect to the balloons and get connectivity where there is none today,” writes Mike Cassidy, project lead for the Loon effort, in the blog post.
“The idea may sound a bit crazy–and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon–but there’s solid science behind it,” the Internet giant wrote on its blog late Friday.
And there’s a reason for Google to step up to consider such an effort, which The Wall Street Journal discussed in an article last month.
The company has plenty of money, and tends to make more of it the more people are connected to the Internet and increase the audience for advertising it delivers. Despite steady advances in Internet access, Google estimates for every one person that can get online there are two who can’t. And that’s the average; in some sparsely populated countries, a much greater percentage of people have no access.
Google’s plan for changing that is based on launching a fleet of radio-equipped balloons far up in the stratosphere, twice as high as commercial aircraft fly. Instead of trying to keep them one place–which is very difficult because of prevailing winds–Project Loon is based on the notion of riding those winds with groups of balloons in planned ways that keep them close enough to each other to form communications networks, the company says.
Signals pass among the balloons, as well as to antennas on the buildings of users on the ground and to control stations, the company says. The company says it designed its radios and antennas to send and receive signals from Project Loon only, filtering out interference that would make it hard to create high-bandwidth data connections over long distances.
The balloons are completely solar-powered, Google says, so they can stay aloft for a long time. It plans to keep air traffic controllers informed of balloon launches and descents, and direct them to land at collection points regularly to reuse and recycle their parts.
Proving it can actually work will take tests, of course. So the company says it has started a pilot program in the Canterbury area of New Zealand, with 50 testers trying to connect to its balloons. Assuming the results are positive, it plans further tests in similar latitudes to New Zealand, and to seek partners.
Besides providing connections to stationary antennas in rural areas, Google is also dreaming of connecting mobile devices eventually.
“We imagine someday you’ll be able to use your cell phone with your existing service provider to connect to the balloons and get connectivity where there is none today,” writes Mike Cassidy, project lead for the Loon effort, in the blog post.