Late in 2014, CheapInternet.com ran an article about three competing plans to bring inexpensive internet to the world. Facebook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Google developed wildly different plans designed to solve the same problem. When it came to Google Loon, we said, “Balloons? Really? Could this be the craziest, wackiest cheap internet plan of the three?”
According to DSLreports.com, the geniuses at Google are making huge strides toward completion of that system.
Here’s how Google described Project Loon back then:
“Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. In the stratosphere, there are many layers of wind, and each layer of wind varies in direction and speed. Loon balloons go where they’re needed by rising or descending into a layer of wind blowing in the desired direction of travel. People can connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from this antenna up to the balloon network, and then down to the global Internet on Earth.”
(Video was removed as it no longer worked)
As envisioned, Project Loon’s balloons, 49-feet in diameter, will float approximately 12 miles above the ground on the 40th parallel. A series of ground base stations will be built about sixty miles apart and communicate with the balloons via solar-powered radio transmitters. But the craziest part — or the most ingenious, depending on your point of view — is that Google expects to steer the balloons using winds found at that altitude.
Now Google says Loon is ready for a much larger test. It says it is “moving from small scale, one-off launches and tests, to the scale and automation required to make balloon-powered Internet for all a reality.”
Early critics scoffed at the concept and said Loon’s balloon network would return to earth or drift off course within a matter of days. But DSLreports.com says Google has already proven them wrong “by keeping its balloons in the air for hundreds of days over thousands of kilometers.”
“We’re getting close to the point where can roll out thousands of balloons,” reported Loon Project Lead Mike Cassidy. “In the beginning, it was all we could do to launch one balloon a day, now with our automated crane system, we can launch dozens of balloons a day, for every crane we have.”
Google has a history of making skeptics eat their words. But despite Cassidy’s confidence, the notoriously-secretive company has not yet revealed when it expects to “launch” the product to customers.
Will Google Loon be another of Google’s efforts to bring free or cheap internet to the world? No one really knows.
But if we had to, we’d guess that Loon will end up being good news for low-income Americans who are forced to live with expensive internet, or with no internet at all.
NATALYA LEYTMAN says
I am a senior on the fixed income. I cannot afford to pay for my internet (Optimum), which is $60 a month. Unfortunately, I have no choice. I dream about that day when the Optimum will have some competition and stop being monopoly keeping people hostages with no chance to chose. I feel trapped and abused. You give people like me a hope. Thank you for your work.
CheapInternet.com Administrator says
Please allow us to give you some tips in addition to that hope, Natalya. Check out all the low-income internet plans at this link:
https://www.cheapinternet.com/low-income-internet
In particular, check out PCs for People and 4GCommunity. They are great options if they’re available in your area.
James Rochester says
This is great learning. Well explained. Thank you.
Frances says
I love the idea . cheap internet from google yes bring it… .
LAURA WREN says
LOOKING FOR A CHEAPER REASONABLE INTERNET ON A LOW INCOME. I HAVE A GOOGLE E-MAIL ACCOUNT
mvl says
Google is ok. But Google is never going to bring free internet service to anywhere, just look at the long awaited WiFi service that requires the purchase of a $699+tax+shipping device. Grant you the device is absolutely tops and their plans are not expensive when compared to the big 4’s and their MVNO’s. I have waited for their free or truely affordable internet or WiFi service to come to my town down here in the South since rumors of their probable service scheme surfaced. I don’t blame them because they won’t know who really need those services and who are just plain not wasting a good deal. Just think, how can they tell apart the greedy and the poor? Still, how do they curb abusive usage from the people who should be thankful for cheap service, but then high data usage doesn’t always mean abusive. Maybe Google doen’t even care about all that and it’s only a business strategy for them to assure product sales and market prominence. Google, afterall, is a business and like all other businesses they need to perform for there stakeholders. In the meantime, we can count our blessings that Google Voice is still free, purportedly until the end of 2015, Google will have gone against the design of Grand Central, the predecessor of Google Voice, a very well engineered software, if Google were to start charging for their calling service. But then again, Google doesn’t owe anyone free calling service. Google is a business just like other businesses, and I won’t expect it to give away free services for whatever reasons.
Our government though is capable to provide free communication services and they are if certain requirements are met, then automatic approval is assured — that is if you happened to have a child enrolled in free lunch program at school. One local ex-mayor, Mr. White, whose campaign platform included citywide free WiFi, couldn’t even accomplish that goal and left quietly into the sunset of retirement from the Office. A decade later we’re still reading about who and who wants to provide free WiFi to everyone who needs it at the price they can afford? In order to get free WiFi, let’s explore how legal it is to tap on free bands of frequencies and how we tap on it ourselves.
CK says
Is there a plan for people who live in apartments?