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This isn't complex tech. You launch a bunch of helium-filled weather balloons from bordering countries; under each one is a payload of wifi gear that repeats a transmission from ground-based terminals. 60,000 feet is nothing for consumer-grade wifi gear. At around $1000 a pop, they are cheap (disposable), and a turn-key package can be shipped out for deployment by regional hackers (hackerswithoutborders.org, for example). Alternatively, you spend a bit of real money and deploy Stratellites. Of course, those would probably be easier to shoot down, and the loss would sting a bit financially. Also, see "Still a Prototype".

I don't think Google is doing this for the purpose of enabling fancy feature X or getting its hands in TV/radio/whatever distribution.

The real killer is that right now the vast majority of Google's users are able to use Google's service thanks to the Microsoft monopoly providing said user with an OS and/or browser. If I were Google, (secret) priority #1 would be to sidestep Microsoft as soon as possible.

If Google can give people usable cell phone based interfaces to its services, then all Google has to worry about is providing quality services that people want to use, which they seem to be able to with little effort.

The only middleman then is the cell phone providers, which Google can sidestep by rolling out its own wireless network, probably similar to what Sanswire wants to do (or Google will buy Sanswire) with cheap blimps, then Google can have a way to sell ads to people 24/7 with a device that effectively costs Google $0 because people will be paying to make wireless VoIP calls using the same device.

This is all hypothetical of course, but its exactly what I would suggest if I worked at Google.

These guys are still working on it. Their "stratellite" airships are designed to operate at much higher altitudes where they won't be bothered by annoying things like the weather.

They've had a couple of promising tests so far, but looks like they still have a way to go. Wouldn't be surprised if they're having a look at the paint on antennas too.

Are you sure Ethan? The cruising altitude of a 747 is 35K ft, and the website below mentions using a high-alt ship/blimp at 65k ft that could provide wireless service for an area the size of Tx. Never say Never http://www.sanswire.com/stratellites.htm

You are absolutely correct! Free markets work best... free! While it is true that there are currently only a few choices in each market, as the wireless ISP market opens up there will be increased choice- as well as internet from power lines, cell-phone providers, and for that matter the blimp-internet guy.
What we are talking about here isn't government invervention in something that the companies are doing now- we are talking about pre-emptive regulation! Regulation against things that aren't even happening! It's not thought-crime (does godwin's law include orwell... because it probably should) but can't we see it from here?! (ok, maybe that last bit was a little over the top).

Here is two technologies that could help the situation. First there is http://sanswire.com/ and second there is http://www.extendamerica.com/. The second one is suppose to be tested in North Dakota later this year. The first is suppose to get 600 million dollars from Russia to put up a network there some time this year.

I think that Stratellites would be better, when they are finally deployed.

One Stratellite will cover 100,000 square miles.

They remain aloft for months at a time, when it finally does need service another is sent up beside it, they electronically transfer control to the new one, and the other descends for servicing.

They are above the winds, airplanes, etc, and aren't dropping things every 24 hours like the balloons in the article.

I hope they hurry up, I'm ready to subscribe so I can use the same internet connection at home, on the road, and at my cabin.

That would be a Stratellite.

It seems like these guys might have the right idea for providing wifi...

http://www.sanswire.com/home.htm

I saw a segment on the science channel about them, and the thing is supposed to cover an area the size of Texas.

Actually, you're hoping for Sanswire Networks http://www.sanswire.com/home.htm to succeed with their "Stratellite" technology. This would put a network of high-altitude (13 mile) airships above the country, capable of carrying literally tons of communications equipment. It'll give you the ping times you need, at a fraction of the launch cost that a satellite requires, and includes the ability to bring down the node for yearly maintenance/upgrades. I'm bullish on the concept.

I wonder if the same equipment would fit on one of these . Perhaps an array of smaller devices?

I wish this would catch on. Assuming they work out the obvious problems with super-high flying aircraft, this might be a neat lower cost alternative to things like this, also something you could take down to make changes to (like upping the capabilities of the hardware, maybe?).

Either way, great concepts on both parts.

No idea. I have heard (read rumor but a likely one) that dsl could be here and running in no time. That the cables are laid but there is some sort of argument with SBC. Thankfully there is a Co-op that has an excellent reputation but simply doesn't have this area for phone lines. (A friend 30 minutes away and even slightly further out has had dsl through them for years.) They are bringing Wi-fi into this area now and are hopefully going to be servicing my area within a month or two. I am itching to tell SBC to take a hike. I am also watching for "Stratellites" http://www.sanswire.com/stratellites.htm When these are put out you can expect broadband costs drop immensely through real competition. That's what this really is about. The large telco's trying to stop a form of competition.

From their FAQ http://www.sanswire.com/faq.htm

1. What about the wind at 65,000 feet? Will it affect the Stratellite

They mention some junk about 1/18 the force of wind on the ground. But gee won't their little blowers (motors + fan) produce way less force to (not sure how it relates to air density). Just seems like marketing crap to me.

This Stratelite was on Slashdot nearly a year ago. They are now at a point of almost having a mockup built.

Sanswire has yet to get anything off the ground. Frankly this company and the flurry of press coverage smacks of venture capital investment scam, to me. There's a whole lot of hype and not much substance.

They've been hyping this for years, and while the telecom crash of the early 2000s kicked the chair out from under their business plans, they'd still be really really cool if they ever deployed the bloody things.

By the way, their PR mockup picture of the Stratellite looks amazingly like the whale in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

They are actually building this Hindengurg. If this thing so much as casts a shadow over my house, there will be hell to pay!

They are actually building this Hindengurg. If this thing so much as casts a shadow over my house, there will be hell to pay!

would like to ask, haven't we pooh poohed this before?

Well, their marketing is total BS, from a science perspective. Cred flash: BS, Math, UGA. From their FAQ:
1. What about the wind at 65,000 feet? Will it affect the Stratellite? Answer: A 60 mph wind at 65,000 feet has 1/18 the amount of force that at 60 mph wind at sea level has. It is still moving at 60 mph, but there are 1/18 the molecules in motion. Insofar as force is concerned, it could be said that a 60 mph wind at 65,000 feet would have the same force against the Stratellite as a 3 mile per hour wind would have at sea level.
Um, that's not how fluid dynamics work. Think about it: there are a far smaller number of molicules of motor oil, too. But the force is different. You can't just take the number of molicules. I remember something aobut working this type of problem in a complex variables class. I don't know what the equation was, but I strongly doubt the relationship is exactly linear. Moreover, it's colder, which also effects viscosity.

must the dang thing look like a killer whale?

The most damning error is in consideration of dimensions v.s. displacement on the same webpage. Given that length x height x width = cubic feet (displacement), or L x H x W = D, and the website gives us everything except for width (W), then we have:

( L x H ) x W = D
W = D / ( L x H )
W = 1.3 million / ( 245 x 145 ) = 1300000 / 35525
W = 36.6

Imagine, if you will, an object 245 long by 145 high by 37 feet wide. Indeed "it is not a balloon or a blimp"; to me it sounds like a giant lighter-than-air GARAGE DOOR!

The same calculations with a guessed width of 370 feet provides for almost 13 million cubic feet displacement. Maybe somebody more cynical than I can calculate if 1.3 or 13 million cubic feet of helium are required to lift 3000 lbs at 65000 feet.

In the mean time, I'll hold my investment money for use with a operation that can get the details straight.

Check out http://www.sanswire.com/

Global Tel (gtel) http://www.globaltel.com/ just bought Sanswire to use them for a broadband and voiceIP offering. The idea is that these things float above a city and service everything below it. They're thinking about not only offering this in major cities but also having them floating above flight routes of planes across the atlantic, etc, so you can have broadband/voiceIP while going transatlantic.

Very cool stuff, imho.

Sanswire

'Nuff said.