Google Is Taking Another Shot At Connecting India To The Internet

Where Facebook has failed, Googles hopes to prevail.

After Zuckerbarg’s plan to offer free Internet access in remote places in India failed, Google hopes that Project Loon is the winning alternative. Free Basics hit a wall when India’s regulations regarding Net Neutrality conflicted with their plan of offering access to selected sites and apps. Google’s high-altitude balloons though don’t discriminate.

They should offer Wi-Fi on a large scale at no cost, if they can find support in local telecommunication firms. So far, Rajan Anandan, Google’s managing director for India, said that the “the government has been very supportive” of their infrastructure in the sky and they are currently negotiating with local telcos.

Until now, Project Loon balloons have been tested in New Zealand, where they remained in the air for several days and succeeded in beaming 3G Internet speeds to receivers on the ground. Google has made verious updates to them, increased strength included, and has since tested them in Brazil and the US.