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Wireless Tech Leaps Forward ... on Balloons

Flying 'towers' could revolutionize rural Internet, cell use; Google interested

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 20, 2008 11:22 AM CST
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(Newser) – A decidedly whimsical business model could bring wireless Internet and cell service to wide swaths of rural America, slinging signals from balloons drifting toward the edge of space. Don’t scoff—the system is already providing services for truckers and oil companies, courtesy of Space Data Corp., and Google is so intrigued it might buy the little company, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Aided by dairy farmers, Space Data releases about 10 balloons into the atmosphere each day. Like most balloons, they eventually burst in the stratosphere, but the transponders they carry drift to Earth on parachutes, where adventurous GPS-toting hobbyists retrieve them. The system could change the economics of connectivity in sparsely populated areas where running cable or building towers isn’t economically viable.

Space Data Corp. already launches 10 balloons a day, providing specialized telecom services to truckers and oil companies, making wi-fi a logical next step.
Space Data Corp. already launches 10 balloons a day, providing specialized telecom services to truckers and oil companies, making wi-fi a logical next step.   (Shutterstock.com)
The Space Data Corp. balloons are sent 20 miles into the stratosphere, carrying a shoebox-size payload of electronics that acts like a mini cellphone tower, capable of providing service to thousands of square miles below.
The Space Data Corp. balloons are sent 20 miles into the stratosphere, carrying a shoebox-size payload of electronics that acts like a mini cellphone "tower," capable of providing service to thousands...   (Shutterstock.com)
Jerry Knoblach plans to bring wireless internet to millions of rural Americans by beaming it down from balloons hovering at the edge of space.
Jerry Knoblach plans to bring wireless internet to millions of rural Americans by beaming it down from balloons hovering at the edge of space.   (Shutterstock.com)
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Pentagon considers using Space Data's balloons
Space.com

Bad times continue for municipal wireless
ITBusinessEdge

 
Google • Internet • telecom • hot air balloon • WiFi • municipal wireless • rural America • Space Data Corp.

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