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Internet giant reportedly talking to BSNL about launching Internet balloon pilot.
Google is in talks with several Indian telcos including state-owned BSNL about launching a pilot of its balloon-based Internet service, Project Loon.
"To me Loon works — but at a simplistic level, it is infrastructure in the sky. And we’ll partner with a local telco," said Rajan Anandan, managing director of South East Asia and India at Google, in an Economic Times report on Monday.
He declined to name which operators Google is talking to, but unnamed sources cited in the same report said they include BSNL. There is also no date set for launching the pilot.
"We can’t do a Loon pilot without partnering with a local telco. We are talking to a number of them," Anandan said. "The government has been very supportive — we are working on a pilot and we are working our way through it."
Google’s Project Loon balloons are solar-powered, can stay afloat for approximately 100 days, and are designed to provide LTE coverage to an area 40 km in diameter. Google seeks out mobile operator partners in order to gain access to spectrum.
Project Loon has already been tested over Australia in partnership with Telstra and over New Zealand. It is also on the verge of being rolled out in Sri Lanka.
Google has also partnered with Indosat, Telkomsel and XL Axiata for a Project Loon pilot in Indonesia, and it has also conducted test flights over Puerto Rico.
