Monday, January 30, 2006
Using Balloons For Cellular Coverage In Rural Areas
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "NEWS" @ 04:00 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/30/D8FF53180.html
There are places in North America where you can have hundreds and thousands of square miles of sparsely populated areas, and it just doesn't make financial sense for cell phone providers to erect expensive towers in these areas when only a few people will make use of it. The only reason these people haven landlines is the US government subsidized the cost to run copper out to their houses by having those in urban areas foot the bill.
"To cover every square mile of North Dakota, it would take 1,100 cell towers," Schafer said. "We can do the whole state with three balloons." If successful, the hydrogen-filled balloons could be drifting across the stratosphere above North Dakota this summer, providing cellular coverage at a tiny fraction of the cost of building cellular towers."
There are places in North America where you can have hundreds and thousands of square miles of sparsely populated areas, and it just doesn't make financial sense for cell phone providers to erect expensive towers in these areas when only a few people will make use of it. The only reason these people haven landlines is the US government subsidized the cost to run copper out to their houses by having those in urban areas foot the bill.
"To cover every square mile of North Dakota, it would take 1,100 cell towers," Schafer said. "We can do the whole state with three balloons." If successful, the hydrogen-filled balloons could be drifting across the stratosphere above North Dakota this summer, providing cellular coverage at a tiny fraction of the cost of building cellular towers."
