Some of the biggest players in the tech industry have been quietly developing initiatives aimed at connecting everyone around the world to the internet. Examples like Google’s Project Loon, Facebook’s Internet.org and newcomer Outernet have all made tremendous strides over the last year. Which one will come out on top? Since each one has taken a different approach, the answer may be all three.
Project Loon
Google’s initiative involves deploying high altitude balloons to serve as signal relays for traditional telecomm customers who reside in remote areas where reception is limited or non-existent. People will be able to connect to their LTE networks no matter where they are thanks to these floating cell towers. Since the technology is meant to integrate with existing data platforms, the Loon Project probably has the best chance at early adoption. However, there are some challenges with their approach. The biggest one is the susceptibility of the Loons to the weather, more specifically air currents pushing them out of position. In response to this vulnerability, Google has also begun developing the Titan platform, which utilizes autonomous drones to complement the Loons. The drones will be more maneuverable and reliable, but they haven’t yet achieve the longevity of the Loons as far as the length of time they can remain up in the sky.
Internet.org
Most people know Facebook for its social platform, but few would peg the tech juggernaut as a player in the data connectivity game. Celebrating its one year anniversary, the Internet.org project is happy to prove the critics wrong. Rather than expanding the reach of existing telecomm providers, the initiative is attempting to eliminate the financial barriers to accessing the internet in areas that already have coverage. In other words, they are attempting to establish a basic, free portal to vital information, like health, employment and local news, to those who can’t afford it. As you might have guessed, the free access is limited regarding the sites you can view through it, but it’s a tremendous step towards connecting the masses who are in regions stricken with significant poverty.
Outernet
A relative newcomer to the game, Outernet has developed a satellite platform that enables users to view the internet simply by purchasing a receiver. Using datacasting and User Datagram Protocol through various satellites, users with a receiver called a lantern can connect to a data stream of up to 100GB of content per day for free. However, the communication is only one way, so you can view but not post anything into the stream unless you upload your content through their network. In order to fund the free access, the cost of the platform is shifted to the providers of the content if they want to prioritize their media in the stream. Net-neutrality pundits have criticized both Outernet and Internet.org for tampering with the type and availability of the content they provide access to. However, as the co-founder and CEO aptly stated in an interview with Wired, “a one-way, non-neutral network like Outernet is better than nothing for the billions of people who don’t yet have a full internet connection.”
Conclusion
Despite their varying approaches, one thing is clear. The world is getting smaller by the minute and we are sure to see more innovations along the lines of global connectivity in the years to come. With the momentum of technologies like 3d printing and the open source movement, there may even come a time when communication and the sharing of ideas will be declared a basic human right and provided at no cost to anyone.
Bit Logic
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This is easily one of the new waves of the future. The companies that are putting money into the new internet, should aware.
It was bound to happen, right? A project like this just needed a company that had a lot of money to throw the idea around to begin with. The best part is, that in this type of business, ALL the programs you have listed here are very good options.
I wonder what will happen when the whole world is connected to the internet and surfing everyday like most of America. I imagine that the whole game will change and much like real life there will be a hierarchy but online. I remember just a couple years ago when you could go on google adwords and start making money by posting ads for pay day loans. You can’t even think about doing something like that these days because the competition for bidding on terms is so intense. That competition has leaked into every aspect of the internet. So once a new thing or platform starts up, it’s a few years before the major players are cemented. With everyone in the world online, that time will be reduced potentially to a few months. Interesting and scary at the same time.
Very interesting methods of integrating internet connectivity to the whole world. I’m most fascinated with Google’s vision as the sound of balloons and drones hovering in the air is both primitive and new age, and comical!