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Weather Balloons To Provide Broadband In Africa
An anonymous reader writes "Two African entrepreneurs have secured exclusive access to market near-space technology — developed by Space Data, an American telecommunications company — throughout Africa. The technology raises hydrogen-filled weather balloons to 80,000 — 100,000 feet, which individuals contact via modems. The balloons, in turn, serve as satellite substitutes which can connect Africans to broadband Internet. 'Network operation centers are located close to a fiber optic cable — say, in Lagos or Accra — and a signal is sent back and forth to the [balloon] in near space,' says one of the entrepreneurs, Timothy Anyasi. The technology will also allow mobile phone operators to offer wireless modems to customers."
to fill the gap until we get UAVs that can stay up for extended periods of time.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
It is quite possible that the balloon(i.e. the actual gas-filled bit) only costs $50; but I'd suspect that the equipment package hanging underneath it costs a good bit more, at least one factor of ten, quite possibly more. I say this because you can, just about, if your time is free, get an ordinary wifi router and a battery to suit rigged up for $50. I'd be absolutely shocked if you could get a proper, tested, setup for a reasonable number of users, with battery and GPS and radio(s) for $50.
Apparently the balloons need to be taken down daily to have their batteries recharched. I wonder, wouldn't 80,000-100,000 feet be mostly above cloud level and be an excellent opportunity to use solar cells?
The balloons come down every 24 hours due to the limitations of battery life -- and to keep them from floating into territories that don't subscribe to the service.
The drifting might be a tougher nut to crack though. Rather interesting idea for rural areas actually.
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This seems like an awfully expensive solution. Does anyone remember Stratovision? It was too costly to keep a B-29 in the air 24/7 just to broadcast. Why should it be any different with disposable air balloons carrying easily lost technology?
If God meant for cell towers to be attached to balloons, he would have, uh, err, done something different!
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
Not only that but communication tools are vital to improving the livelihood of Africans. I've been working with an open source tool, Frontline SMS - it's already being used to do some amazing things.
Rather than continuing to send cash and some food, which has thus far not really been much help - we can help build infrastructure that will give people more control over their own lives and the ability to improve their circumstances on their own.
I saw a demo a couple weeks ago by some guys from a communications lab from a local university. They are building a system to provide educational materials via mobile phones - iphone and android right now. They've got grants to get androids on the ground in developing nations. The system can work completely via sms if necessary but an internet connection is better.
There are some exciting things going on in tech in Africa and this is cool to see.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
My parents live in Africa and get better cell coverage than I do here in the USA. They can drive from northern Zambia to the tip of South Africa and never lose signal.
So Why not just use the existing Cell Towers to provide broadband?
Not to mention poverty is commonly tied to low education and the internet is a powerful educational tool when used properly.
I'm guessing you've never read Youtube comments