Internet coverage with giant balloons

Google will begin testing balloons the size of hot air balloons to beam internet signals in Indonesia next year and hopes to connect 100 million people.

Google's Internet-signaling balloons are gigantic. Photo: Wikipedia.

Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands, most of which are mountainous and heavily forested. The rugged terrain makes it impossible to lay fiber optic cables or cell towers, leaving nearly a third of the world’s fourth-most populous country without internet access.

However, the American company Google has come up with a solution through Project Loon. Together with three Indonesian Internet service providers – Telkomsel, Axiata and Inmost – Google plans to start testing the Internet network beamed from balloons next year.

According to IFL Science, the Loon project aims to launch 12-meter-long helium-filled balloons 20 kilometers into the stratosphere, where they can broadcast Internet signals at speeds of 10 megabits per second. Each balloon is equipped with a solar panel, a flight computer with satellite navigation, and an altitude control system.

"The Internet is still out of reach for many, but we're working hard to make it happen. If all goes well, more people in Indonesia will soon be able to bring their ideas, their culture, and their businesses online," the company said on its Google Blog.

Project Loon is part of a larger push to connect Indonesia to the rest of the world. Only 23 percent of Indonesians own smartphones, so Google has launched low-cost Android One phones and integrated Indonesian languages ​​like Bahasa and Sundanese into its Google Translate app.

According to VnExpress