Google has estimated that at the end of its multifaceted effort to wireless networks around the world, it will have connected roughly a billion people to the internet mostly in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Google’s plan is to use airwaves, normally dedicated to television, in order to support wireless internet access. This type of development cannot take place without cooperation from local governments. To aid this development, Google plans on using special balloons or blimps referred to as “high altitude platforms” which can transmit wireless signals to an area of hundreds of square miles.
Another facet of the plan is to create new microprocessors and low cost smart phones to pair with the new wireless access.
If the plan is to connect and aid impoverished countries, low-cost smart phones are a great tactic. In impoverished countries, cell phones are used for everything from receiving medical updates to receiving crop prices to transferring money. Many small businesses even use smartphones as an alternative to conventional banking.
While this push does contribute to Google’s push toward having consumers completely reliant on every aspect of Internet access, allowing residents in impoverished communities to access mobile networks opens up a new medium for information that can greatly increase their income, productivity and quality of life.
– Pete Grapentien
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Photo: Tech Spot