Google is using laser technology to bring a new, cheaper Internet to remote areas
The tech – which uses a stop sign-sized terminal which beams lasers carrying data to a corresponding terminal – will provide high-speed Internet access.
This is not the first time that Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has embarked on a mission to bring reliable, cheap Internet to communities in rural and remote areas.
But this time around, the team at the tech giant’s innovation hub X-lab has learned from past failures.
In 2016, the lab sought to broaden Internet access by using stratospheric balloons but that project was ultimately wound down due to high costs.
Now they’ve turned to a new technology for what they call the Taara project: using neatly designed terminals that beam data-carrying lasers to corresponding terminals over fixed distances – essentially fiber-optic Internet without the cables.
According to the head of Taara, Mahesh Krishnaswamy, things are progressing better this time around.
And now telecommunication partners