Google in talks with Sri Lanka to provide connectivity with Project Loon
31 Jul 2015
Google is all set to sign up Sri Lanka for its Project Loon, which envisages delivery of Wi-Fi by giant balloons to rural populations. Sri Lanka, yesterday announced it was investigating using Google's Project Loon balloons to cover the country with internet access.
If things work out, Sri Lanka would become the first country to have universal internet coverage.
The country's relatively small size (just over 25,000 square miles) would be a big plus, but it would still be a big win for Project Loon.
AFP reports that the plan would involve Google working with Sri Lanka's local internet providers to allow use of Project Loon balloons to enhance their service. According to commentators, indications from the reports are Project Loon would not be an internet free-for-all for whoever wanted it.
According to AFP, individual balloons were slated to be in the air for 100 days at this point, with hopes for starting the launch of the balloons by next March.
Given the early phase the project was in, however, the timeline sounded aggressive and tests by next March seemed plausible, however, a full launch was unlikely. With only a little over 3 million of Sri Lanka's 20 million citizens have any sort of internet access, Project Loon could turn out to be a big boon for the country.
Google confirmed that a preliminary agreement, known as a memorandum of understanding, with the government of Sri Lanka had been signed. It meant both sides would explore the possibility of testing Google's high-flying balloons in the country, but nothing had been finalised.
The balloons developed for Google's Project Loon, were unveiled in 2013 under the auspices of the company's secretive Google X division.
The lab was responsible for Google's most ambitious projects, including driver-less cars and smart contact lenses.
For Google, getting remote populations online was good for business and the more people connected to the internet, the more people would likely use the company's services, including Gmail, search and its YouTube video site.
Many firms believe getting rural populations online was the next big thing and many high-profile companies from Facebook to SpaceX are looking at everything from balloons to satellites to bring this about.