Google gets government approval to beam Internet from balloons

Google has received India’s permission to start testing Project Loon, under which the company will beam the Internet from balloons in the sky, in an effort to provide affordable Internet access, without the high costs involved in setting up traditional infrastructure, to rural areas in India. Project Loon is aimed at increasing Internet penetration in rural as well as remote areas in India; Google, however, will be only the technology provider and not the internet service provider.

Google, under its ‘Project Loon’, is using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kilometres for transmission of Internet services. It has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (the U.S.) and Brazil. New Zealand was the first country to get Internet powered by Project Loon. Brazil was the second. Sri Lanka also gave the nod to Google recently and is expected to get 100% Internet connectivity. Indonesia is the fourth country to get Project Loon-based internet, while India will be the fifth.

A committee under chairmanship of Secretary, DEITY, has been formed to work on it,” an official source told PTI. Google may initially partner with BSNL for testing this technology by using broadband spectrum in 2.6 Ghz band. When contacted, a Google spokesperson refused to comment.

Height: Project Loon balloons will float in the stratosphere, 20 kilometers above the earth.

Reach: Each balloon can provide Internet access to an area of 40 kilometers.

Power: The balloons will remain powered through the day by energy generated from solar panels.

Technology: Google claims each balloon can provide connectivity using 4G or LTE technology. To use LTE, Google has partnered with telecom companies to share spectrum to enable people to access the Internet directly from their phones.

Partnership: In order to provide internet access via Project Loon, Google has partnered with BSNL, the state-run telecom operator, to share its telecom spectrum.