Google to float helium balloons over rural India for internet connectivity

HYDERABAD: Google will float helium balloons over rural India for Internet connectivity if an experiment testing the concept yields promising results, a senior official of the company said.

"Though we are still in the pilot phase, we have received several queries on the project and India has also shown great interest in the project," said Todd Rowe managing director for global sales channels at Google. However, he said there was no time frame to launch the project in India as it depends on the success of the ongoing pilot project.

Project Loon was launched as a pilot earlier this month in New Zealand to provide affordable Internet access in remote and rural parts. The plan is to have several balloons floating around the earth at an altitude of 20 km, or twice the height at which commercial aircraft fly, and beaming connectivity to areas that are not served by traditional copper or fibre optic networks. Special equipment that can be fixed on the roofs will communicate with the balloon, acting as the link enabling the user to communicate with the balloon.