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from the cue-the-monsoon-and-shark-comments dept.
Instead of using balloons or drones, Alphabet/Google X plans to create a backbone of fixed boxes that communicate using lasers in order to deliver Internet access in Andhra Pradesh. Users would connect to the end points wirelessly:
Alphabet's X Lab has cooked up yet another Internet connectivity scheme, according to a report from Reuters. Past efforts have involved floating Internet balloons and laying lots of fiber optic cable, but this Internet delivery system sends data over laser beams! This isn't an experimental system like Project Loon; India's Andhra Pradesh state government has signed an agreement with Alphabet to bring the technology to millions of people starting next year.
[...] Alphabet's rollout in India will involve fitting "2,000 boxes installed as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart on posts and roofs" according to the report. The optical system is expected to hit 20 Gbit/s from box to box and would serve as a backbone, replacing more expensive technologies like fiber optics. The final connection to users would happen over Wi-Fi or cellular.
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(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday December 18 2017, @05:29AM
Wouldn't it be easier and perhaps more reliable with a wave-guide of some sort? I don't know, maybe something like optical fi... (oh, wait - large grin).
'tis about cheap, nobody mentioned reliability (proof: they don't care microwave can do the same but less sensitive to insects, pollution, rain).
So, wanna bet there won't be any tracking system?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford