‘Project Loon’ is a very innovative idea of Google. Under the Project Loon Google will be using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kilometers above earth surface for transmission of Internet services. Google has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (the US), Sri Lanka, Australia and Brazil.
Internet giant Google and Indian Government are working together on this pilot project for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons.
To provide internet connectivity Project Loon uses helium-filled balloons floating 20 km above the earth's surface (or about twice the cruising altitude of commercial jetliners.) Signals from each balloon can cover a diameter of 40 km on the ground, and a network of balloons in the stratosphere is envisaged for seamless connectivity.
“Google approached government to set up the Loon project and Drone-based Internet transmission. Government has approved testing of Loon project only as of now. A committee under chairmanship of Secretary, DEITY, has been formed to work on it,” an official source informed.
The technology, used for 4G services, has potential to replace mobile towers as it can directly transmit signals on 4G mobile phones. It is expected that project loons might cause big loss to telecomm companies.
After many bureaucratic run-ins over its ambitious plan to provide internet connectivity using high-altitude balloons, Google may be close to conducting a pilot of Project Loon in India. The location of the pilot is expected to be in Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been tasked with the job of zeroing in on the location and other requirements for the pilot. Discussions between Google's Loon team and NIC are expected to happen this week.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been tasked with the job of zeroing in on the location and other requirements for the pilot. Discussions between Google's Loon team and NIC are expected to happen this week.
