Google’s Loon balloons will drift at high altitudes
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Starting next year, Google’s Project Loon will loom over the U.S. which means that there’s another thing to watch over across the skies. The tech giant’s ambitious plan to share internet with the world is making headway, after the initial announcement of their campaign taking place in October.
The company making home in California’s Mountain View will reportedly begin testing across American ground. This will include all 50 states, and Puerto Rico.
The Project Loon is essentially an army of high-altitude balloons that aim to provide wireless internet to the population on the ground. They will be placed high in the stratosphere, 9 miles above the ground. Google’s aim is to offer high internet speeds up to 4G LTE, through the solar powered balloons. It will be beamed down onto the ground, so we might be seeing access everywhere come next year.
The notion that Google is moving their project to the United States was rooted in the filing made to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The company has reportedly requested to test certain experimental radios, with the wireless in the millimeter bandwidth. Much of the information in the filing has been deemed confidential.
However, Google will be reportedly testing their Project Loon across the U.S. starting on January 1st, 2016, and will be going on for two years. During the course of their testing, they will operate transmitters with ranges between 60-580 MHz. Even more, their promise is to not exceed the 580 MHz nor go below 60 MHz.
The millimeter bandwidth will reportedly be the best at sending out huge amounts of data over large distances. It’s not yet known how many balloons they will be operating, so it’s difficult to say how their far their WiFi range will reach. The aim is likely to cover the entire country, with internet access to be provided for all.
It’s also a bit of a mystery why Google is attempting to bring their project in the U.S., considering their initial goal. Their ambitious campaign of high-altitude, internet-providing balloons is aimed at developing countries, with a lack of communications infrastructure. According to Google, this will affected around 5 billion people who are lacking internet access.
However, the U.S. could prove itself to be another of its testing grounds. It will allow the company easier access to tweak or modify until they’re finally prepared to officially launch across world. Or, it’s even possible that the tech giant is now seeing bigger markets as potential revenues for their Project Loon. Whichever it is, starting next year, there will be Google Loon balloons looming over our skies.
Image source: techgenmag.com