York-based telecoms outfit SkyLINC wants to build a network of base stations in balloons, tethered 1.5km high, as a platform for delivering broadband to rural communities.
SkyLINC"s LIBRA (Low-Cost Integrated Broadband Radio Access) platform could be used to provide symmetrical broadband connections of 1Mbps and above to the vast majority of UK small businesses from a network of 18 helium-filed balloons. The balloons are held stationary by a tether. A fibre optic cable is used to transmit signals between a base station and an antennae in the balloon (more properly called aerostats). Although the idea sounds a bit odd at first, the US government has been using similar technology for decades.
Each LIBRA super-cell could have coverage of 2,000 sq miles and be capable of supporting 30,000 subscribers each, according to SkyLINC. Service from the balloons could be offered to an estimated 87 per cent of UK SME business locations, it says.