From PC World: If you follow Google relatively closely, you probably know about Project Loon, an effort to provide Internet access to those in rural areas or affected by natural disasters using LTE-equipped balloons.
According to a new report from The Guardian, Project Loon has some company. As part of another project, called Project Skybender, Google is experimenting with a fleet of solar-powered drones equipped with a new, super-high-speed wireless broadband technology that’s up to 40 times faster than LTE.
Project Skybender has been shrouded in secrecy until now, with tests being conducted high above the New Mexico desert. As part of the tests, Google is using an experimental new technology known as “millimeter-wave radio,” which, according to The Guardian, “could underpin next generation 5G wireless internet access.”
Although Project Skybender is new to us, Google’s interest in millimeter-wave radio technology is not. In 2014, the company filed paperwork with the FCC in which Google laid out plans to test the up-and-coming wireless technology in San Mateo, California. Google had apparently been looking into millimeter-wave radio tech for at least two years prior to that, our Mark Hachman reported at the time. Millimeter-wave technology has a long way to go until it’s ready for prime time, though—its range is limited compared to LTE, as The Guardian notes in its report.
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