Cell phones are literally taking over the world and sometimes they haunt you in such a freakish fashion that you are relieved that you are actually out of coverage area of your network. This is especially true when you get those useless calls from banks and firms saying that they would give you loans and credit cards or promise you free trips and other nonsense. But then, apart from the little annoying things, they have made life largely a lot easier and comfortable. Imagine having a girl friend all the way across on the other coast and being able to only write a letter to her once in a week or so. Makes you thank the cell phone revolution every time! Now Jerry Knoblach wants to bring wireless service to millions of rural Americans too. Space Data Corporation and its chief executive Mr. Knoblach have the dream of bringing both the internet and cell phone services to every possible consumer across US and they have already started about in trying to fulfill this dream. Expanding rural telecom services is a priority for regulators. About 36% of rural Americans don’t have Internet connections. The problem is that it’s expensive to string cable or build cell phone towers in areas with so few customers. Space Data says a single balloon that it sends in to space can serve an area otherwise requiring 40 cell towers.
The company, each day, sends over 10 balloons in to space and these balloons are launched without much fuss. They are custom made in the factory of the company and they contain a wireless transmitter/receiver, which enables the functioning of cell phones on ground. 10 of these balloons already seem to cover plenty of area. Basically the company is trying to put cheap cell phone towers in space. The only difference is that they work a lot more effectively, cover a large area and are a lot cheaper. The company entrusts the job of putting these in to space to farmers and even common men who just need to release them at the right time from the right strategically placed location. The balloons are constantly monitored and controlled from ground stations and they fall back on to ground after a day’s work. The transmitters are retrieved by volunteers across the country, who are paid $ 100 for each time they bring back a transmitter! Now that is indeed cool.
Google already has an eye on the company and it would be great if hey take it in to wings and expand the venture. We all know what Google is capable of in terms of both performance and wackiness. It would be interesting to see how this goes forward from here, but the technology is surely welcome.
