Alphabet, which owns Google, and other online service providers view
increasing internet accessibility in developing countries as crucial to
maintaining their fast-growing businesses
 |
| Google logo is pictured atop an office building in Irvine, California, US August 7, 2017. Alphabet Inc owns Google |
Alphabet Inc’s X research division said on Thursday that Andhra
Pradesh state government would buy its newly developed technology that has the
potential to provide high-speed wireless internet to millions of people without
laying cable.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed,
but the agreement, which begins next year, would see 2,000 boxes installed as
far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart on posts and roofs to bring a fast
internet connection to populated areas. The idea is to create a new backbone to
supply service to cellphone towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, endpoints that users
would then access.
The agreement is an outgrowth of X’s Project Loon,
which on several occasions has beamed cellphone service to Earth from a network
of large balloons. The balloons link directly to smartphones but are meant for
rural areas with a low population density, according to X.
Alphabet, which owns Google, and other
online service providers view increasing internet accessibility in developing
countries as crucial to maintaining their fast-growing businesses.
Andhra Pradesh, a state with 53 million
people, had nearly 15 million high-speed internet subscribers as of last
December, according to a report by India’s telecom regulator. The state wants
to connect an additional 12 million households by 2019, Alphabet said.
X plans to deploy free space optical technology, which transmits
data through light beams at up to 20 gigabits per second between the rooftop
boxes. There would be enough bandwidth for thousands of people to browse the
Web simultaneously through the same cellphone tower, X said.
Researchers have said such systems hold
promise in areas where linking cellphone towers to a wired connection is
expensive and difficult. But the technology has not taken off because poor
weather or misalignment between the boxes can weaken the connection.
Baris Erkmen, who is leading the effort
inside X, said his team is “piloting a new approach” to overcome the
challenges, but he did not specify the software and hardware advancements.
X plans to have a small team based in
Andhra Pradesh next year to help roll out the technology.
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