Google which was in news recently for undertaking a pilot study called Project Loon for increasing internet connectivity by floating helium balloons is planning to bring its concept to India to increase connectivity in rural India. The internet giant would be introducing this technology if its concept yield good results. This was revealed by a very senior official of the company who further added that Google is not looking at any particular time frame to launch this concept in India.
Todd Rowe, MD, Google- Global sales channels who was in Hyderabad to brief about the companies strategy for small and medium enterprises speaking on this development said “Though we are still in the pilot phase, we have received several queries on the project and India has also shown great interest in the project.” Project Loon which is about 
sending helium balloons at an altitude of 20 km was launched this month beginning in New Zealand. As part of the project 30 balloons were sent and it was said that 50 test users were able to use internet.
If Project Loon becomes a success, the 15 m wide balloons which can stay up in air for nearly 100 days would be a real game changer in internet connectivity because of sheer power of connectivity which would be unleashed in areas were traditional optic networks don’t reach. This could be really good for rural India where in many places the internet connectivity is very poor. Google claims that the connection speeds could be comparable to 3G speeds in India and this is real good news for rural India where people crave for high speed connectivity.
Though the scene of helium balloons across the world beaming internet connectivity looks like a scene from a sci fi movie, it would be interesting to note how this technology is beneficial to the masses in the long run.
