News Google Balloon To Provide Fast Internet In Remote Areas

Technoglitch

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Google's ambitious project to deliver internet to remote parts of the world using high-flying balloons has survived a brutal development phase and will enter the testing mode later this year, media reported on Tuesday.

With "Project Loon", the internet giant struggled to find the right balloon design that could be both inexpensive and durable not only to float but navigate to predictably travel through the stratosphere, tech website Re/Code reported.

"We busted a lot of balloons," Astro Teller, head of Alphabet's X unit (formerly Google X), was quoted as saying while showing some of the designs at the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, which began in Vancouver, Canada, on Monday.

"So we are going to keep going," Teller said, adding that last year the balloon travelled around the world 19 times over 187 days.

He also noted that the connection has advanced to deliver about 15 megabit-per-second internet access.

The company will test this technology in Indonesia and Sri Lanka to see how it works delivering real internet service to consumers.

"Alphabet is in talks with carriers around the world. The prospect is very real that a further five billion people will have Internet access within five to 10 years. It will change the world in ways we cannot possibly imagine," Teller was quoted as saying.

TED is a global set of conferences run to discuss technology, design and include talk sessions on many scientific, cultural and academic topics.

Google Balloon To Provide Fast Internet In Remote Areas
 

Ajai

EntMnt Addicts
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Google's balloon-powered high-speed Internet service known as "Project Loon" began its first tests in Sri Lanka Monday ahead of a planned joint venture with Colombo, the country's top IT official said.

One of three balloons that will be used in the trials entered Sri Lankan airspace Monday, the Information and Communication Technology Agency chief Muhunthan Canagey said.

"The first balloon entered our airspace this morning. It was launched from South America." Canagey told AFP. "It is currently over southern Sri Lanka."

He said a Google team was expected later this week to test flight controls, spectrum efficiency and other technical matters.

The government announced earlier this month it would take a 25 percent stake in a joint venture with Google to deliver a high-speed Internet service powered by helium-filled balloons.

Sri Lanka is not investing any capital, but will take the stake in return for allocating spectrum for the project. A further 10 percent of the joint venture would be offered to existing telephone service providers on the island.

It promises to extend coverage and cheaper rates for data services.

Service providers will be able to access higher speeds and improve the quality of their existing service once the balloon project is up and running.

The balloons, once in the stratosphere, will be twice as high as commercial airliners and barely visible to the naked eye. The balloons will have a lifespan of about 180 days, but can be recycled, according to Sri Lankan officials involved in the venture.

Official figures show there are 3.3 million mobile Internet connections and 630,000 fixed line Internet subscribers among Sri Lanka's more than 20 million population.

Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to introduce mobile phones in 1989 and the first to roll out a 3G network in 2004. It was also the first in the region to unveil a 4G network two years ago. (Source: Daily mail)

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- See more at: Google "Project Loon" balloon enters SL for Internet tests ::: Dailymirror.lk ::: Breaking News
 

Ajai

EntMnt Addicts
Yes bro
I created seperate thread for this sorry i didn't know that you already shared
 
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