Three of Indonesia’s mobile operators this week partnered with Google to test the Web giant’s balloon-powered Internet service, Project Loon.
Indosat, Telkomsel, and XL Axiata will begin testing the technology in 2016.
"Currently, only about one in three of Indonesia’s 250 million residents is connected to the Internet," said Project Loon, in a Google+ post. "Stringing fibre networks or installing and maintaining mobile phone towers across the more than 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia is a significant challenge."
Each solar-powered Project Loon balloon floats approximately 20 km above the Earth’s surface. The balloons pick up the signal from a ground station and relay it between one another as well as down to the surface.
Each balloon can stay afloat for approximately 100 days, and is designed to provide LTE coverage to an area 40 km in diameter. In order to gain access to spectrum though, Google needs to partner with mobile operators.
"In flight testing, the Loon team has already been able to wirelessly transfer data between individual balloons floating over 100 km apart in the stratosphere, enabling local network operators to extend their Internet service into areas that are too difficult to reach with current technology," Project Loon said.
Project Loon has already conducted tests over Australia in partnership with Telstra, and in New Zealand.
"The Indonesian tests will fo rm part of the foundation for our longer term goal of providing a continuous ring of connectivity in partnership with mobile network operators around the globe," said Project Loon.
