Pichai pitches Project Loon for connectivity

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has proposed Project Loon for increasing connectivity in rural areas. This project will both increase and improve connectivity. It will be most helpful in disaster hit areas as it promises to deliver unmatched connectivity even during those severe times.

Features of Project Loon:

1.It uses helium-filled balloons to provide data connectivity in remote areas.

2.Each balloon would provide connectivity to a ground area of about 40 km in diameter using a wireless communications technology called 4G.

- Technology:

Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. In the stratosphere, there are many layers of wind, and each layer of wind varies in direction and speed. Loon balloons go where they’re needed by rising or descending into a layer of wind blowing in the desired direction of travel. By partnering with Telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum, it has been made possible for people to be able to connect to the balloon network directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. The signal is then passed across the balloon network and back down to the global Internet on Earth.Project Loon began in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in New Zealand, where a small group of Project Loon pioneers tested the Loon technology. The results of the pilot test, as well as subsequent tests in New Zealand, California’s Central Valley and in Northeast Brazil, are being used to improve the technology in preparation for the next stages of the project.