Report: Google To Spend $1 Billion On Internet Satellites

[engine]

I've often wondered about how important it is to get Internet to remote regions. I would have thought clean water, and electricity might be the first step. I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of having Google directions for when you're lost in the Sahara desert.

Google Inc. plans to spend more than $1 billion on a fleet of satellites to extend Internet access to unwired regions of the globe, people familiar with the project said, hoping to overcome financial and technical problems that thwarted previous efforts.

Details remain in flux, the people said, but the project will start with 180 small, high-capacity satellites orbiting the earth at lower altitudes than traditional satellites, and then could expand.Report: Google To Spend $1 Billion On Internet Satellites [online.wsj.com]

[creeking]

let's call it satnet.

will the satellites route traffic to other satellites until it can reach an earth access point?

the drones they are considering would have political problems flying through some countries' airspace.

I wonder if satnet will be censored over countries that want it censored. if a country wants it censored and G won't censor the satnet, the sats could be treated as hostile.


if the connection they offer is dialup-speed internet for a few hours a day, that would still be very useful. it might even spur development of dialup-friendly news websites.

[LifeinAsia]

I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of having Google directions for when you're lost in the Sahara desert.

Actually, I would probably be much more interested in directions if I were lost in the Sahara than if I was lost trying to find a restaurant in a big city. Then again, "Left turn in 50 miles" might not be that helpful...

Tinfoil hatters will probably say that the satellites are just a prelude to an orbiting Google campus, to which they will transfer their HQ to avoid taxation and legislation.

And AdSense watchers can have yet another reason (satellite latency) for why their daily stats are behind. :)