Google’s Project Loon internet balloons to circle Earth

Search giant Google is looking to connect developing economies to the Web with the aid of giant floating balloons that function like WiFi hotspots in flight — part of an endeavor called Project Loon. As part of this effort, the company announced that Indonesia’s top three mobile network operators, Indosat, Telkomsel, and XL Axiata, have agreed to begin testing Project Loon’s balloon-powered Internet capabilities over Indonesia in 2016.

From Sabang all the way to Merauke, many of Indonesia’s people live in areas without any existing Internet infrastructure, so Google is hoping that over the next few years Loon will be able to partner with local providers to put high-speed LTE Internet connections within reach of more than 100 million currently unconnected people, and provide enough speed to read websites, watch videos, or make purchases.

“In Indonesia today, only about 1 out of every 3 people are connected to the Internet,” Mike Cassidy, vice president of Project Loon, wrote in a blog post. “And even though most of their connections are painfully slow, they’re doing some pretty incredible things. Soon we hope many more millions of people in Indonesia will be able to use the full Internet to bring their culture and businesses online and explore the world even without leaving home.”

Project Loon balloons travel approximately 12 miles above the Earth’s surface, in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind varies in speed and direction.

Google uses software algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go, then moves each one into a layer of wind that is blowing in the right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications network.

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Source: informationweek.com