It was possible to transmit the Internet wirelessly from a distance of 20km through a beam of light

Alphabet will soon provide wireless Internet via beam of light in Kenya using technology that can cover distances up to 20km. In fact, this is the Taara project, which was announced under a rather “messy” name as the “Free Space Optical Communication Project” in 2017. Last year, the development team went ahead. a series of trials in Kenya and now partnering with a telecom company to provide Internet access in remote parts of Africa.

Kenya will use the technology first, and countries in sub-Saharan Africa will follow. Taara Project General Manager Mahesh Krishnaswamy described the project in an announcement from Alphabet recently, that it “will help provide high-speed connectivity in places where fiber-optic cables are difficult or where fiber-optic deployments can be too difficult. expensive or dangerous – for example, across rivers, across national parks or in post-conflict areas. “

Like fiber, but without cable

Similar to fiber optic cables, Taara’s technology uses light to transmit data, but without cables.

“Just as a traditional fiber uses light to transmit data over a cable in the ground, Taara uses light to transmit information at very high speeds in the form of a very narrow, invisible beam. sent between two small Taara terminals to create a link A single Taara link can cover distances up to 20km and can transmit bandwidth up to 20Gbps + – that’s enough connections for thousands of people watching YouTube at the same time, “said Mr. Krishnaswamy.

According to an Alphabet representative, Taara’s links can relay the high-speed, high-quality Internet to people without the time, costs, and hassle involved in digging grooves or spreading cables along poles. .

However, the technology requires a straight line connection, so Alphabet will have to deploy terminals “on high towers, columns or roofs”. Mr. Krishnaswamy also said that Taara links could “provide a cost-effective and quickly deployable way to bring high-speed Internet access to remote areas and help seal critical gaps. key access points, such as cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots “.

Alphabet now encourages ISPs and other mobile network operators to contact about Taara deployments in other regions.

Part of optical data transmitter.

Taara is one of the key projects developed at Alphabet’s subsidiary (formerly known as Google X). It was originally under Project Loon, a hot air balloon-based network to cover the Internet for remote areas. However, during the implementation, engineers found it necessary to find a way to create a data link between the balloons flying more than 100km apart, so they studied the use of FSOC (Free Space Optical Communications) technology. to establish high flow links between hot air balloons.

After using those links to send data between the balloons in the stratosphere, Loon’s engineers wondered if they could apply some of the technologies in them to solve the connectivity problems in the stratosphere. Slightly lower altitude no. As a result, Project Taara was born.

See arstechnica