Google Project Loon Launch Confirmed For 2016; Details Released!
Indonesia's top three mobile networks teamed up with Google X to launch "Project Loon" in 2016 to give enough internet coverage in the location, according to USA Today.
"Project Loon" is developed by Google X with purpose of providing internet access to Indonesia's rural areas. These balloons are placed in the stratosphere to create a wireless network with the speed similar with 3G, according to Wikipedia.
Google announced that they are collaborating with Indonesia's three largest wireless networks to test the "Project Loon" in 2016. They first launched 30 inflatable balloons in New Zealand back in June 2013, according to BBC.
Right beneath the loon there will be two radio transceivers for sending and receiving data together with a third back up, a GPS location tracker with a flight computer and solar panels to provide power source.
The first speed plan was just as fast as the 3G connection but as to the recent update, it can accommodate connected devices with 10 megabits per second using the antennae on land. For reference, the usual 4G connection is 15 megabit per second in UK, according to BBC.
Google Project Loon's Vice President Mike Cassidy said that the group wants to "make a continuous string around the world," by launching about 300 balloons in 2016. Their goal is to have one balloon for a certain area and if one balloon moves from its place, there will be another one to take cover.
Presuming the successful launching of the first continuous string that will cover the Southern Hemisphere, they plan to take in the first beta customers. However, the plan still depends of what will be the outcome, reported on Engadget.
Indonesia's largest networks namely, Telkomsel, XL Axiata and Indosat collaborated with Google to give them the ability to provide signals to remote areas by bouncing them from one balloon to another. Project Loon's Google+ announced that only one out of three Indonesians has internet access, according to Engadget.
Indonesia will allow more foreign e-commerce investors in their country. Founder of bubu.com said in a tech conference in September that, "When people think about Indonesia, I want one of the first things that they think of is that we're a digital country," stated in Jakarta Globe reported by USA Today.