It’s been a long time in development, but now it’s decided that Google Loon will loom over Sri Lanka in March, 2016. It’s part of the company’s effort to bring affordable internet to developing countries and the Sri Lankan government has just announced that deal has been sealed, so the internet-providing balloons will fill their skies next year.
The Google Loon Project, initially of Google Project X, started out in 2013. For those unfamiliar with the idea, its purpose is to use the high-tech, helium filled balloons that will lift 20 miles into the sky and will provide high-speed 3G internet connections below. The signal will be transmitted from balloon to balloon and then further down to the ground across an expansive area.
Sri Lanka plans on becoming the first nation in the world to offer universal access to the internet because of the deal made with Google, and it’s the perfect test subject for the project. With a population of around 20 million people, it’s the most appropriate place for Google Loon to test the waters.
Out of the entire population of Sri Lanka, only around 3 to 4 million have access to the internet and the project could bring a considerably beneficial change to the virtual landscape. It currently has just 2.8 million mobile internet subscribers and 606,000 fixed line subscribers, while the remaining rest use WiFi services available through the tiny island nation.
Sri Lankan minister of IT and foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweer, voiced his excitement for the project and proudly declared that every community along Sri Lanka will be deemed as “covered”, with the high tech balloons looming over and offering high-speed internet connectivity.
Since it will be working with local providers, the Google Loon Project with certainly not be free, but it will be offering more affordable choices with higher broadbands, efficiently lowering the cost of the average internet user.
Ultimately, Google hopes to provide internet connectivity through the Loon Project to two thirds of the developing world through local area network providers and it’s aiming to provide “uninterrupted connectivity” of high speed internet. It’s just one of the many ambitious projects the company currently has in plan.
Google Loon will be offered only to poorer countries who have not yet obtained the means to catch up with the fast growing technological advancement of other nations. It was stated that it’s economically redundant and possibly financially harming to install the project in developed countries, but will more certainly help others, where local service providers can only cover so much and there are a good number of “dead spots” across the map where internet does not reach.
Image source: digitaltrends.comcialis super active
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