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Google's Project Loon Begins Tests in California
Google is testing a small version of its Project Loon low-cost, high-altitude balloons equipped with radio equipment, designed to provide high-speed Internet access to rural and remote areas. The tests, in California's Central Valley, will address a numbe
Credit: Google
Google has planned a series of Project Loon tests for California's Central Valley.
In late July, the company launched a small, test version of its low-cost, high-altitude balloons that are outfitted with radio equipment. Google wants to deploy a ring of radio-equipped balloons to fly around the Earth on stratospheric winds 12 miles above the earth and deliver Internet access at 3G or better speeds. The company plans to use plastic balloons equipped with radio gear, processors, and solar panels to deliver wireless broadband access to rural and remote areas.
Google will need to address several technical issues, including how to power each balloon's radio equipment and computers to run for weeks at a time, day and night, in frigid high-altitude temperatures. The company also will need to reach agreements with multiple regulators and possibly international bodies.
Thus far, Google has launched 30 balloons and initiated a pilot program in New Zealand.
From FierceBroadbandWireless
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