Google Floats Balloons For Free Wi-Fi

New submitter BrokenHalo writes "Google has revealed that it has 30 balloons floating over New Zealand in a project to bring free Wi-Fi to earthquake-stricken, rural or poor areas. They're calling it Project Loon. '[W]e’ve built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today’s 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters.' Eventually, as the balloons move across the stratosphere, consumers in participating countries along the 40th parallel in the Southern Hemisphere could tap into the service. The technology will be trialled in Australia next year, possibly in Tasmania. If the latter happens to be true, then you'll probably hear the telcos' screams in New York."

I thought that Loonies...

[Anonymous Coward]

were Canadian dollar coins.

Tech specs

[Anonymous Coward]

Each balloon is 15m (49.2ft) in diameter - the length of a small plane - and filled with lifting gases. Electronic equipment hangs underneath including radio antennas, a flight computer, an altitude control system and solar panels to power the gear. Google aims to fly the balloons in the stratosphere, 20km (12 miles) or more above the ground, which is about double the altitude used by commercial aircraft and above controlled airspace. Each should stay aloft for about 100 days and provide connectivity to an area stretching 40km in diameter below as they travel in a west-to-east direction. [1] [bbc.co.uk]

Re:In the end?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, I skimmed through both articles in search of one answer.
  What happens to the balloons when they inevitably drift out of the intended coverage area and then crash? This technology is useful for a short-term disaster relief solution, but over the long term you're going to end up with a lot of balloons and electronic packages coming down all over the world.

Evidently, you didn't skim enough. From TFA:
'
But using free-floating balloons introduces another problem: how to ensure they are where they are supposed to be.
"We didn't want them to go just wherever the winds took them, we wanted them to go where the internet is needed on the ground," said Mr DeVaul.
"You have to cause them to move up or down just a little bit through the stratosphere to catch the appropriate wind - which is how we steer them.
"So we have to choreograph a whole ballet of this fleet, and that requires some impressive computing science and a whole lot of computing power."
The balloons will communicate with Google's "mission control" where computer servers will carry out the calculations needed to keep them on track, monitored by a small number of engineers.
The software makes adjustments to each balloon's altitude to take advantage of forecast wind conditions, and nudges the balloons up or down to find a more favourable stream when the predictions are not accurate.
'

Re:In the end?

[ian_mackereth]

From Google's page:

A parachute attached to the top of the envelope allows for a controlled descent and landing whenever a balloon is ready to be taken out of service.

Re:Tech specs

[jones_supa]

It was me. I even submitted another version [slashdot.org] of this particular news item with those specs included, but someone else's submission was chosen instead. Ah well. :)

Re:Tech specs

[wonkey_monkey]

Can normal 802.11 b/g/ac devices talk to a base station 20,000 meters away?

TFA says nothing about 802.11 (aka Wi-Fi) - it seems that was an invention of the submitter.

From the video:

The balloons communicate with specialised internet antennas on the ground.

Re:Tech specs

[ShanghaiBill]

Helium? I think we are wasting so much.

The market is already fixing this. Helium prices are rising [bloomberg.com]. The primary reason for this is shale gas. Helium is a byproduct of natural gas production. Some gas wells in Texas contain as much as 4% helium. Gas wells outside the USA contain very little helium, making America the dominant producer. But America is switching to shale gas, which contains very little helium, and the helium producing wells are being shut down because they can't operate profitably with historically low gas prices. So helium prices are climbing, and frivolous uses are being curtailed. Disneyland Tokyo has already stopped selling helium balloons of cartoon characters.